Face of Humanity
by Iwasbored
Summary: A redo of the initial story. How would the story have changed if Tsukune knew what Yokai Academy was? What if he still came? What if the seal on Moka didn't change her personality? No lemons; M for (language).
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Prologue: Admittance

Tsukune's Perspective

Today was the last day of my middle school. As I looked around the room I saw that many of classmates were staring at the clock instead of listening to the teacher talk. All of those eyes kept shifting.

_Tick Tock_

_Tick Tock_

Who could blame the students? School was simply boring. School was just a monotonous routine: sitting through class, listening to lectures, waiting for it to end, going home to go do homework. It was the same process every day. Technically the lesson didn't matter since anyone going to high school had already taken the exams and everyone knew which schools they had gotten accepted to.

The bell rang.

The room was soon filled with exasperated gasps of relief as their final day of middle school was over. A few guys and girls sitting next turned and started to chat. Soon enough a boy came up to my desk and dropped his bag on it.

"So Aono, what schools were able to get into? You haven't told us yet."

After his comment, I noticed that some of the students around were silent and staring at us. Though the idea that they were staring because they were fellow classmates would have been a nice feeling, I knew that it was very unlikely.

Looking back up at the student who was hovering over my desk with a certain glint in his eye, I responded to him as I would anyone else in the room. I just simply told him the truth and gave him an indifferent expression.

"I got accepted to several of the high schools in Tokyo and that one private school around here that awarded scholarships based on interviews of the students rather than the grades. It's too bad I couldn't get that scholarship."

_Che_

Though I couldn't tell who made that sound, I already knew that it was pointless to try to find out who did. These were just my classmates who I would probably never see too much of after today.

I started to get up and pack my things when I started to hear whispers.

"What a show off."

"How the hell did he get into those schools anyways, he is always reading those books about monsters and fairytales."

"Didn't you know? He usually places around the twentieth in this school when it comes to tests. But yeah, how the hell does he get those grades if all he thinks about is things that don't exist?"

"He probably cheated for them as well as the high school exams. Some of the people who scored higher than him couldn't even get admitted to that private school."

The whispers continued as I got up to leave. No point in staying where I'm not wanted anyway.

The last day of school was tiring in itself for simply being the last day. Wanting to go home I started to walk past the gate.

_Shuffle_

_Mmph_

Turning to my left I noticed that there was a man in priestly clothes lying with his back on the gate. All of the other students seemed to be extremely wary of him by standing back or giving him glares.

"Why is he here? He should just go find another place to disappear to."

Sometimes I can't help but wonder if anyone knew the word empathy. Concerned that the priest may get into some trouble if he didn't leave, I thought it would be best if I could at least get him to stand up and leave.

"Are you okay? Can you stand up?"

The priest shuffled slightly and looked up to my stretched out to help him. I couldn't see his face clearly since it was covered by a hood, but I could sense that he seemed to be confused. I couldn't tell whether he was confused about where he was or why I would want to help him. Maybe it was both. Warily he grasped my hand and pulled himself up. I could hear the other students begin to mutter, probably about how they knew I was in some shady cult.

"Are you lost?" I asked ignoring the blatant stares and gossip of the other students.

The priest began looking around his surroundings and then shook his head. I guess he knew the area if he knew where he was.

_Grrrrr._

The priest shuffled slightly. I guess he was really hungry.

_Grrrrr._

I guess I was really hungry as well.

"Do you want to go get some ramen or udon with me? I know a pretty good store near here."

The hooded man seemed to take my offer as a surprise. I can't blame him too much for his response. Here is a middle school student, a complete stranger, offering to eat with him while the student's peers are just giving some dark looks.

In a low voice he said, "I don't have any money though."

"I'll pay. It's just a bowl of noodles." I said as I began to notice that the small group of students was much bigger. "Besides if we don't leave here soon I'm pretty sure that someone is going to try to get rid of you."

"Why are you helping me young man?"

I started to turn towards the direction of the shop and just asked, "Why not?"

Aside from the store owner, the shop was empty today. I walked to my usual corner of the store and sat down. The priest had followed me and sat in front of me. I still couldn't see his face due to the hood, but I did see a yellow glint of light of what I assumed were his eyes.

"Hey, Tsukune congratulations on finishing middle school today! Ordering the usual today?"

"Hey Aiya-san, I'll be ordering the usual. It's been awhile. How has your daughter been doing? Is she out doing deliveries?"

"Oh you know, still looking for a good boy to settle with and yeah she is delivering food right now. By the way your food is on the house today." The man said while grinning. "Tell me when your guest is ready to order his food."

After Aiya-san walked away the priest asked, "Do you normally bring in other people here to eat?"

"It's boring to eat alone isn't it?"

"Don't you have friends to eat with you …"

"Oh sorry, my name is Aono Tsukune, and to answer your question, not really. Most of the students around here think I'm too weird to be around. What should I call you by?"

"Call me Mikogami. Why do they think your weird Aono-san? You seem like a nice boy."

"…"

I couldn't really respond immediately while I tried to collect my thoughts for a moment. Why didn't people like me? I could think of a number of reasons as to why. They were jealous that I could do well academically, they found the fact that I enjoyed fairytales and legends more than sports on TV, or that I simply didn't have anything that they could annoy me with. After a moment, I felt that I needed to respond.

"Have you ever wondered why there are always so many problems in the world Mikogami-san?"

The priest didn't respond but simply stared at me with his yellow eyes.

"I always thought it was because people cannot understand something that is completely different from them at one point. It makes sense right. Wars and fights can only happen between at least two people."

The priest only nodded as he listened to me.

"But now I am not too sure because people come to believe what they believe from how they were raised. So it shouldn't be impossible to understand one another if people are willing to take the time to understand the situation."

The priest only nods as though to encourage me to go on.

"Yet conflicts still arise because people do not wish to take the time to understand the other side. I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I don't know why many of my peers don't really like me. It could be that they are jealous or what I may be good at or maybe they are scared of me since they never took the time to know me. Maybe it could be that they simply go with what their friends say and just claim I shouldn't be their friend. I just simply don't know why my peers don't view me as another friend; the only thing I do know is that they aren't willing to give me a chance."

I wasn't completely sure, but I could sense that the priest was smiling. Did he like my response or find it funny? As I was wondering this, he started to talk again.

"So you believe that most conflicts only arise because people will not try to understand each other? But if you believe that then where does that put you? You don't seem to try to make an effort to make other try to understand you. I mean you didn't even try to clear up whatever misunderstanding you made with the other students when you tried to help me."

Though he seemed to be reprimanding me, it hardly fazed me at all.

"True, I am also at fault for not trying to clear up any misunderstandings. However, how can one explain his or her situation to people who refuse to listen to begin with? It is almost pointless to even bother trying to explain. If I had to choose between helping someone as to leaving them in the dirt to fit in, I'd rather be an outcast."

"So you don't believe that there is a way for different people to truly get along because people choose to be ignorant?"

"No Mikogami-san. I believe that there is a way. As long as you are willing to simply step out and give a helping hand to others, I'm sure that even people who are against them will eventually turn around. That they will try to listen to what others have to say at least"

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha…"

The sudden laughter of the priest startled me because it was his first sudden reaction. And as he was laughing, I noticed that his chin and teeth became exposed. His teeth were quite sharp and his skin seemed to radiate a disturbing aura. After laughing out a bit he then looked me in the eyes.

"Do you believe in monsters Aono-san?"

"Yes Mikogami-san.".

"Are you afraid of them Aono-san?"

"No."

"And why not young man?"

"Why should I be afraid of something that I have not met? Unless they are truly trying to tear me apart, should I be afraid of another person? In fact I think life would be very interesting if I could get along with monsters. Anyways, what does this have to do with our earlier conversation?"

_Fppp_

There was now a vanilla folder in front of me. The folder was titled Yokai Academy Registration: Aono Tsukune. I could really see the man smiling under the hood as I looked between him and the folder.

"Let me guess Mikogami-san. You want me to join this Yokai Academy. A school probably designed for monsters based on the name alone. And you want me to be friends with the fellow students."

"I'm glad I didn't pick a fool for this project. Yes Aono-san. I want you to join our school the next three years" said the smiling priest.

"Please stop making fun of me Mikogami-san."

"Pardon?"

"Even if I believe in monsters, how do I know that you aren't just messing with me because I believe in them?"

The priest smiled as if he knew that I was going to question him. Just talking to him this long I could tell that he had planned this all out. I could tell that no matter the response he was prepared for it.

"I am not making fun of you. I can show it to you Aono-san. I can show you an interesting world. A world where monsters and myths are real! Where magic is real! A world where you can test out your theory! A world that you can mold to your liking using your hands! Doesn't that in itself sounds interesting Aono-san! I can even show you the school and some faculty right now and that I am not just spouting nonsense! I can even get you to the academy seconds from this very moment and be back in time so that your parents need not worry!"

I couldn't help but look at him. I was speechless. Here was a priest who I found lying on the ground. A priest everyone avoided and just waiting for the one person he was waiting for to actually to talk to him. A priest, who until today was a complete stranger, guiding my thoughts down what I could safely assume was his entire goal. The priest seemed to have no prospects, and yet he was offering me a new world to explore. This priest sought me alone as though to grant my one wish. I was staring at not a priest, but possibly the devil himself.

I could see him clearly, a white robed man with yellow glowing eyes and a large smile that seemed to reach the edges of the hood itself. He was possibly… No he was leading me down to a dark and dreadful path. Mikogami-san was dangerous and devious. He already knew my answer before I met him.

_Gulp_

"Show me."

Mikogami's Perspective

What an interesting boy. I can't wait to see what he will bring to the academy. I wonder if he will last longer than my last subject.

Author's Note(s)

#1: For the most part these notes will just be here to clarify some things that may not have been so obvious while reading. Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Also send reviews of things you liked or disliked so that I can try to improve the work. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them in the next chapter.

#2: Tsukune, for the most part, is still going to be kind to others. The major differences are that he will actually be a smart student, have enough ability to protect himself and have a decent poker face. For now his personality is that of an outsider that does the right thing.

#3: This story will not have lemon. I just feel that lemon takes away from the story. The most you will get is second base, some fondling and whatever your imagination can think of for those moments left up to you to decide.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Welcome to Yokai Academy

Tsukune's Perspective

_Vrooooooooooooom_

As I looked through the window of the bus I saw countless cherry blossoms flutter by. The sky was clear and blue. I could feel the sun radiate through the glass. And I could see my reflection in the glass. I honestly thought that I looked like just any average guy you could pick off from the street. I had the typical black hair and soft brown eyes. Like most people, I didn't really do muscle training so I wasn't strong. I did take some lessons on Judo because of bullying, but I ended up quitting because it was inconvenient. I had to wonder why the Chairman chose me when I was just so average compared to the crowd. My grades were clearly not a factor since Mikogami-san enrolled me without testing me.

I could help but to sigh out, "I really made a deal with the devil didn't I."

Flashback

"Here we are Aono-san. Like I promised, welcome to Yokai Academy."

In front of me the priest stood with his arms outstretched. But what I was looking at was not at him but the very world itself. The sky was red as the sun was setting. Scattered throughout the endless red were black rolling clouds. The entire area we were standing on was virtually cliff side, with the fall leading to a red sea. Before us there were many grey tombstones littered with yellowed skulls. Further ahead of us I could see a dense forest of black trees. The trees had no life, but had bent branches that looked to catch prey. At the end of my vision I could see a large fortress like structure.

Did I just die and go to hell?

"Chairman-sama!"

I looked for the source of the female voice calling for the … Chairman? Hesitantly looking at the priest, I realized that I had just been personally invited by the Chairman of the academy. I couldn't help but feel a little bit honored and suspicious that someone at his level would actually personally come to pick me up.

During my distraction a woman came up. The woman was wearing a white blouse, an orange top underneath and a brown skirt. She had orange-blonde hair that looked like she had… ears coming from her head… and she seemed to have a tail. If this wasn't some elaborate prank where a woman was just cosplaying to trick me, she had to be a bakeneko.

"Ah, Nekonome-sensei. What seems to be the trouble?"

"Nothing is wrong meow. I just wanted to let you know that all of the students have been safely transported back to their homes. Meow. Why are you looking at me as though I did something wrong, meow?"

"Nekonome-sensei, do you realize you are in violation of one of the basic rules of this school in front of a prospective student?"

At the sound of his calm voice, the tail instantly whipped back to her back and disappeared. I couldn't help but grin as I realized I was actually seeing a bakeneko.

Seeing my grin, the Chairman just smiled and turned to Nekonome-sensei.

"It's fine for today, but be more wary next time. I wouldn't want my own staff to break the rules of the school and set a bad example to the students. Anyways, this is Aono Tsukune and I am showing him around the campus to let him know what we are willing to provide should he wish to join our student body."

Nekonome-sensei, now noticing me came up and began to inspect me. After a few moments, she gave a satisfactory nod.

_Purrr_

And strangely enough she was purring at one of her would be students with her head tilting to the side like a cat.

"Welcome to Yokai Academy Aono-kun."

"Chairman-san, where do I sign to come to this school?"

I could see that wide smile under that hood and those glowing eyes. He slowly raised one of his arms to motion towards the school.

"Right this way Aono-san."

End Flashback

"I should have at least listened to the conditions before signing a contract with the devil."

Looking down at the letter he received he couldn't help but remember the rules set for him.

Aono Tsukune's Contract with the "Priest"

1: Do not reveal the fact that you are a human to anyone, unless you wish to risk a painful death.

2: Do not seek my authority as your shield should your identity come to light.

3: Accept responsibility for your actions, regardless how uncontrollable the outcome may be.

4: You may not leave the campus to go back to the human world. There are certain exceptions.

a. Club activities that require you to go to the human world.

b. The school shuts down for any reason.

c. Special permission is given from the current Chairman.

d. If you are kidnapped and taken to the human world.

5: Do not reveal the world of monsters to any humans that do not yet know of yokais.

6: Come to my office whenever I request a report or explanation for your actions.

7: Attend the academy for at least 3 years.

8: Infractions of any of these rules 2-7 will lead to a public execution.

From,

Mikogami

P.S. Should you die, I will simply erase your existence in the human world. Should you reveal the existence of yokai, I will personally remove your family and the families of any humans you told. Also, good luck for the next three years.

I can literally hear Mikogami-san laughing to his heart's content just from reading that last message. Dad was right when he said to always read the contract first. Well at least most of the rules were what I expected.

"You are a student enrolling at Yokai Academy?"

The cold deep voice spooked me for a second. Scanning the bus, I realized that the bus driver had to be talking to me.

"Yeah"

I noticed I was still grinning after saying that. I guess that despite the restrictions and my late hesitations, I was going to start living the life I had always wanted, a much more interesting life.

The bus driver turned his head slightly to look at me. I saw the same bright yellow eyes under the cap staring back at me. I could hear him chuckling.

"I hope you know what you are getting into boy. Just remember that anything can happen at this school. Ah we are here now."

During the talk I had failed to notice that we had left the human world. Looking out the window I saw the red sea expand into the distance with the grey cloudy sky looming above it. I was back.

Bus Driver's Perspective

"Good luck boy."

_Vroooooooooooooooom._

The image of the new student quickly disappeared from rear view mirror. The boy never looked back at the bus that was leaving him behind.

Mikogami really knows how to pick them doesn't he? As I began to puff away at a cigar I remember the last subject that came on this bus. Both this one and the previous were quite happy getting to the academy, but he was quite different from this one though. The last one had stronger eyes. His eyes were those that had seen and experienced true brutality, and even he cracked under the pressure in a semester. This boy though, his eyes were too soft.

I take another long puff from the cigar, while I thought more about what Mikogami had in store for his new test subject.

I wonder how long this one will take to break. A month, maybe two?

"Hehehe, I wonder what makes this one so special. This boy is Mikogami's chosen test subject unlike the other one."

Tsukune's Percpective

Walking down the path in the forest of black trees, I could almost understand why everyone at school thought I was such a weirdo. I rejected that coveted private school near home in order to attend a school that almost no other student would have heard of. As I noticed the alarming number of gravestones along the sides, I was quite certain that I was literally walking a path where I could die any moment.

_Snap._

Wished Mom was more accepting of the decision though.

Flashback

"Tadaima."

"Okaeri Tsukune. Can you come to the living room for a second? We need to discuss what school you will go to next semester."

I froze at the spot realizing the one flaw in my deal with the priest. I forgot that I had to tell my parents about going to Yokai Academy.

"O-o-okay Mom."

There is no use worrying about it. I already sold my soul to the devil, so what can my Mom do.

_Tap tap tap._

"Tsukune, did you just say that you rejected that private school."

_Gulp_

"Yes Mom."

"And instead of choosing one of the schools in Tokyo, you decided to choose this Yokai Academy. And this unknown academy didn't accept you because of your test results. They instead decided to accept you because you decided to talk to a priest that was actually the Chairman of this school."

Mom was still smiling and her eyes were closed, but I could still feel and a flood of emotions emanating from her. Her hands were so balled up on her apron that the fabric was actually starting to tear.

I quietly whimpered, "Yes mo-mo-mother. But to be fair he was planning to get me to join the school regardless of whether or not I talked to him. I'm sure he had other reasons as to why he scouted me for the school."

"Tadaima. Huh, what's wrong you two?"

Dad is home. I'm starting to wonder if I should have just moved into dorms today instead of coming here to explain my decision. It doesn't help that I have to explain myself without revealing the real nature of the school.

_Tap Snap._

Dad was now staring directly at me with an expressionless face.

"Son, why did you want to go to this school?"

The room had finally calmed down to a level at which Mom wasn't going to explode from tears. Dad only managed to get Mom to cool down by having her in another room while he said that he would take of it. Dad was always the more reasonable one to talk to. He had to work in business where he had to see the reasoning behind ideas or trends and then make decisions based on that. He had enough practice to know what was sensible and what was garbage just by knowing the reasons alone. This was why I was sweating bullets. I had to always choose my words carefully whenever talking to Dad about what I wanted.

"I want to go to this school because I feel that the academy will prepare me for the world in a way that would be impossible for the other schools to do. The private school and the ones in Tokyo only focus on the academics. I feel that this school focuses on more than just that. I feel that this school will get me to places that I could never get just by studying."

"Tsukune, both you and I know that that answer is a half-assed excuse that anyone can come up with."

I could feel the glare from his eyes as his brow started to furrow. He was right though. I began to rack my mind as I tried to quickly scrape up another reasonable excuse without getting us all killed.

"Dad this school focuses on the collaboration and building of relationships between those of higher status and those of lower status. Even if the experience is designed for the social interaction, the underlining fact is that if I do befriend the students many of them may prove invaluable in the future."

The glare lightened, I could tell that he accepted the idea slightly more than previous reason. Why shouldn't he. I did tell him a half-truth since the school is about bridging differences and there were bound to be a lot of higher social standing students. Though I didn't like the fact that I had just treated what may possibly be my future friends as resources. Though Dad seemed to have his interest peaked, I could tell that he needed far more and had something up his sleeve.

"Why can't you do this in the other schools Tsukune? There is always bound to be the obvious distinction between the rich and poor. This is even prevalent in the schools you were accepted to. In fact I would have figured that having commoner friends in school such as those would be far more beneficial. These are highly sought for schools, so you know that any poorer students had to have gotten in by pure merit alone. Wouldn't it be easier to befriend those who work for greatness than trying to bridge the gap for those destined for greatness?"

Dad was seriously going for it. He wasn't treating this conversation as one would have between a father and son, but as an employer or competitor trying to breakdown the competitor's argument. Even though it was like this, I couldn't help but feel happy that he cared about my future so much. But at this rate, my word and reasons were going down the drain and fast.

Taking a breath I had to try to keep a calm demeanor. If I faltered now, the argument would never flow in my favor. Looking straight at him, I started to speak out the thing that I hated most about myself.

"You know what I always hated about school Dad? No matter what I did the others kids would always give me a criticizing eye. Every action, every inaction, every word was deeply scrutinized by my peers. I always had a hard time making friends. I always did my best at what I could, and I got labeled as a show off or a nerd. I was bullied a lot. Whenever I fought back I would get into more trouble. But deep down I always knew why I was alone a lot of the time in middle school. Even if I was a good guy and went out of my way to help strangers off the street, only the strangers would be happy. That was because I actually took the effort to show that I cared for how they felt. I have the resolve to help those that need help, but I never had the resolve to settle the disputes I had with my classmates properly! I was either to scared or found it a waste of time to even bother! How could they ever possibly choose to be my friend if I never attempted to show them what I was like because I was afraid of rejection?!"

That last sentence really struck home. It was how I really felt about myself. I meant every word I said and it was the complete truth as to why I was so desperate, other than the fact that the school was in my dream world and the fact that I did probably make a contract with someone I really shouldn't have. But I lost my cool at the end. I had become too emotional at the end. I knew that since my Dad was treating the conversation more as an interview than a conversation, that he would dismiss my decision as being an emotional whim caused by my hormones.

I looked up at him and noticed that he was not glaring at me anymore. I guess he understood what I was saying was difficult and real since he always knew what was happening at school. He knew from the fact that no one from school really bothered to visit unless they had to give me handouts. My dad also knew Aiya-san very well since he went there often as well, and he knew my habit of eating with strangers rather than other students.

Pushing my luck, I resolutely said, "I want to go to this school because I know that this school will change me in a way where I can reach out to my peers for friendship. Not just extend a helping hand to those in need."

"And what if I said you can't go? What if I said that I wouldn't pay for the tuition? What if I said that we would disown you for throwing your life away for a deal that you do not understand?"

Looking into Dad's eyes I could tell that he was absolutely serious with his statement. His one and only son was trying to make a decision that would alter the course of his life. I was making a decision between assured success and a life of struggle.

I refused to fold.

"Then I would just have to deal with it. I'm going to this school regardless of your consent. If anything, this is the one choice that I am sure of no matter what."

I sat there in silence waiting for Dad to say something that would try to dissuade me from attending Yokai Academy.

Dad started smiling and said in a warm tone, "I am glad you finally found something to attach to. Do what you want and I'll try to smooth things out with your Mom."

_Snap_

End Flashback

I snapped back to the real world. Something or someone was following. It had been following me throughout the blackened forest and I could feel the glare digging into my back. Whatever it was, I could feel that it was out for blood.

I quickened my pace to get to the school, or at least to a crowd. I could hear the sounds of students chatting as I drew closer to the school. The sounds following me stopped as soon as I got close to the flood of green uniforms streaming into the school. Everyone was heading towards the bulletin board to check out what class they were in. I started to head for the buildings because the Chairman had already told me where my class would be and that Nekonome-sensei would be teaching the class.

Moka's Perspective

Why is he here? No, why is that here? I could smell it since it entered the forest. Why is there a human here? That scum is here defiling the school. This is a sacred and secret haven for monsters to stay and learn. Just its presence sickens me. Should I reveal his identity to the school and let the others rip him apart? Maybe I should just drink him dry. It would make a nice change from the tomato juice and transfusion packs. I wonder how I should…

"Morning Akashiya, what are you doing shadowing Aono-kun this morning?"

Turning to my right I felt the impending presence of a Dark Lord looming behind me. I could see those bright lights staring at me. Even with my noble blood, I could tell that any confrontations with this priest would never end in my favor. His eyes made my blood run cold.

"Mikogami-san, why is this lesser being here?"

He was still behind me, and I could feel that the air surrounding us become much thicker.

"I personally invited Aono-kun to this institution. Is there a problem with him being here?"

"That's not what I wanted to know Mikogami-san. I wanted to know why a …"

"Akashiya. It is never wise to question a Dark Lord's intentions. I invited him here because he was interesting and for other reasons. If you have problems with lesser beings attending the same school as you then you are out of luck. Vampires are considered to be the elite even among S-rank monsters. Of course this school is going to be filled with lesser beings."

Though he never raised his voice, I could feel something behind that calm façade. It disgusted me and filled me with dread. Even Father couldn't put out this much of an ominous presence. I couldn't finish my statement. I couldn't demand him to tell me why he let a human in.

"It's good that you know your place Akashiya. Now if you have any problems with a fellow student, you should just confront him or her about it. Remember this is Yokai Academy, a school for teenage monsters. It is hard to sometimes keep them all under control. Accidents do happen."

Narrowing my eyes I knew that this person was egging me on. What was going on? He was clearly telling me that he had this human under his protection, and next he is telling me to possibly dispose of the human. Was he simply taunting me knowing that he had won.

"What are you getting at Mikogami-san?"

"Pardon? Akashiya, whatever could it be that you are asking me about?"

There it was, that smile was plastered across his face. It seems that whatever he was trying to do succeeded.

"It's nothing important."

"Oh, before I forget Akashiya. Your father **asked** me to reinforce that Rosario. I have the enchantments in my office. Would you accompany me so that we can get your seal fixed as quickly as possible?"

I bit my lip. I really want to break him for spitting on my family's honor and lineage. I knew he emphasized that word just to get to my nerves. It's no wonder father never wanted me to associate with this Dark Lord.

"Mikogami-san, as a fellow Dark Lord you should mind the way you speak about my father. In any case, I am almost late for class. Let's just get this seal fixed as soon as possible."

This priest really sickens me. I'll be sure to break his new toy so that he won't spit on my family again.

Mikogami's Perspective

The pink headed girl began to briskly walk towards the school after those curt words.

_Pfft._

My, my, she is such an ill-mannered girl. So prideful about her blood and she doesn't even know where her precious father really stands. Oh how fun it will be when she finds out that her precious father is not nearly as powerful as she makes him out to be.

I begin to walk towards my school as my experiment comes to mind.

Aono-kun, I do have to wonder how you managed to catch this particular girl before the school even started. You might be more of a catch than I had originally given you credit for. I wonder how you will handle this situation. If you make it pass this first hurdle I really do look forward to see how you will mold the future. For your sake, I hope you don't disappoint me Aono-kun.

Author's Note(s)

#1: For the most part these notes will just be here to clarify some things that may not have been so obvious while reading. Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Also send reviews of things you liked or disliked so that I can try to improve the work. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter.

#2: Bakenekos are cat demons that can take on the form of humans. I didn't choose a nekomata because those demons are usually characterized with a split tail.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

First Impressions

Tsukune's Perspective

The bell rang. Looking around me I see all sorts of students filling the seats. Many of these students were wearing the standard green uniform. Some of them were properly worn and others were worn unbuttoned. There were a few who chose not to wear the uniform since the uniform was actually optional.

"Good meowning class. I am Nekonome Shizuka, and I will be your homeroom teacher this year. Meow, let's start off with attendance. Everyone I would like everyone to introduce themselves and one thing they enjoy to do. Meow, let's start in the back corner next to the window and move forward. Then once the front person is done we'll go to the next column."

Looking behind, I notice that the seat behind me is empty. I quickly shot a glance around the room to notice that everyone is looking at me expectantly.

Standing up and clearly speaking, I said, "Hello everyone. My name is Aono Tsukune, and I like to go out and look off into the horizon. I hope we can all get along this year."

I quickly take a seat once more. It seems that Nekonome-sensei is checking for my name on the attendance. There is a mixed response from the class. Some of the tougher looking guys seemed to be smirking as though they thought I was just joking. Others were wondering what fun it there could be in just going to stare off into the distance. There were a couple of others that nodded their heads thinking that it was sometimes just nice to get some peace. But the response that bothered me the most was the guy next to me that seemed to stare at me as though he was thinking something was off.

The person in front of me soon stood up. She had light purple hair that messily hung a little past her shoulders. Instead of the normal green uniform, she wore a white sweater with long dark blue sleeves. She was definitely wearing a black singlet underneath since I could see the black straps lying on her shoulders. She had a lollipop in her mouth.

She spoke really softly, "I'm Shirayuki Mizore. I also like to spend my time gazing out into the distance…"

The last part of her introduction trailed off. I could have sworn she said something else after that statement. But she quickly sat down and the process repeated for the rest of the class.

There was only one other student introduction that really stood out in particular, Kurono Kurumu's. I don't recall what she said in her introduction, but I do recall that my mind went blank the moment I looked at her purple eyes. For some reason just looking at this blue haired girl made it much harder to think. Is she some sort of monster that can charm others? It seems that I wasn't the only guy affected since most of the other guys seemed to be swooning after her introduction. She was definitely dangerous if she made it harder for me to actually think.

"All right class, meow that all of the introductions are over I'd like to state the basic rules. As everyone knows already, Yokai Academy is a school built for monsters to study. Our current problem is that the Earth is already under the control of the humans! In order to survive, we have to be able to peacefully coexist with the humans. You will spend the next three years learning not only what we teach you, but how to secretly integrate yourself into human society. As such, you are all required to maintain your human form during your time here. Since we can't have the humans know that we exist, your identity must not be found out by the other students. Do you all understand, meow?"

"Sensei, why don't we just eat all of the humans? And rape all of the beautiful girls? They are so weak compared to us anyways."

The student that had questioned the teacher sat right next to me. If I recall his name was Komiya Saizou. His tongue slightly slithered out, and I could see sharp set of teeth. The teeth were sharp, but he clearly didn't come from a snake monster. His lip had rings through them and he had a solid build. Was he an orc? He seemed to radiate pure malice and look fairly strong.

"Well there are simply too many of them out there. Even if monsters are naturally stronger, the sheer numbers meow are just too great for an actual take over. They also have a vast supply of technology that makes up for their flaws. We would most likely lose. I guess it is fortunate that you are here Komiya-kun. Since there are no humans for you to harm it'll be good training for you before you can get back out into the human world, meow."

It is ironic that she would say that considering my position. I was glad that she did leave out the part about what would happen to humans should they be found on the campus. It was nice to believe that maybe she didn't believe the death penalty should occur if she found out about my identity.

_Bang_.

The entire class diverted their eyes to the entrance of the classroom. There stood a girl with pink hair and green predatory eyes. She wore a silver rosary with a red jewel center as an accessory and she walked in with a certain confidence in her stride.

"Sorry I'm late, but I had to take care of some business before coming here."

I could actually feel the annoyance dripping from her voice.

"Ah everyone made their introductions already. Please introduce yourself to the class."

"I'm Akashiya Moka."

Her answer was curt and she saw the only desk available. I could see her mouth twitch slightly and proceeded to walk to the desk behind me. Many of the other male students were whispering.

"Dam she is hot."

"Dude, I think we may have gotten into the best freshmen class."

"But, don't you find it hard to approach her?"

I decided to look outside the window because something just felt off. As she passed by me I could feel her eyes stabbing at me. Maybe she was the one tailing me earlier this morning? I could feel the glare for the rest of the period.

"You are Aono-san right?"

The class had just ended and Nekonome-sensei had just left the room. Akashiya-san was already looming over my desk. Normally everyone should have been chatting since we were on a lunch break. But the room was dead silent. I felt needles prickling my skin as some of the guy's stares were that of jealousy. Others were wondering if I had done something.

"Yes Akashiya-san, do you need something from me?"

I was carefully choosing my words since she already seemed to have quite a disliking for my existence.

"Come with me to the roof right now."

It looks like she, as well as many of the other guys in the class, were going to kill me. What did I do to get her to want to kill me already? I absolutely cannot be alone with her. I have to think of a way to stay in the class.

"That is kind of a bold way to ask a guy out on the first day. Isn't it Akashiya-san?"

I gave a slight chuckle to egg her on to annoyance. Hopefully this will only annoy her enough to say what she wanted to say in the classroom. No matter how angry she is, it isn't likely she would maul me to death in the middle of the classroom.

_Smash, errrr_

Looking down I noticed that my nice flat desk now had an impact mark where she had slammed her fist. The legs of the desk also seemed to be slightly bent. Many of the other students were also shocked by the sudden display of violence from the little joke. Nobody would have guessed that that one comment would have caused the girl to become so angry. It also appears that some students outside the room were starting to gather at the doors wondering what all of the commotion was about.

"KNOW YOUR PLACE! THAT'S NOT WHAT I WANTED TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT!"

I thought she was going to kill me before. She wasn't going to kill me now; she was going to torture me and then slaughter me. But even if she was angry instead of annoyed, she was still in the same general mentality that I could use to prevent being isolated with her.

"Ehhhh, then can't you just tell me here if it isn't as embarrassing as a confession?" I asked in an annoyed tone.

Akashiya quickly snapped, "Fine! I was going to ask you in private, but why are you here. Why is a human on campus?"

Her eyes were glinting with murderous intent. God, are you punishing me for signing the contract with Mikogami-san? A few seconds passed and I could already hear murmurs from the other students.

"Why isn't he responding?"

"Doesn't that mean he is a human?"

"Now that I think about it that would explain the human smell."

The situation was getting really bad. I placed one hand over my eyes to calm down. If I just worry about dying I won't be able to get out of this situation. Okay I'm here in a classroom of bloodthirsty monsters and I was just accused of being a human. If it wasn't for the fact that I would die if I couldn't get away I would be laughing. The idea was so absurd and yet here I was. Wait, that's my solution.

I got up slowly with my hand still covering my eyes.

"Hahahahahahaha…"

The class was silent as they watched me expectantly. They must be wondering what the hell was wrong with me. The only one that didn't seem to be surprised was my accuser. She was smirking over what appeared to be my mental breakdown.

"Hahahahahahahaha, oh yes I'm a human. I'm a human. Hahahahahaha..."

I could hear more chatter over my confession. Everyone was shocked and for good reason. A classmate was openly admitting that he was human. I could also feel the air get heavier around Akashiya. She was getting annoyed again. She knew that I was making light of her accusation and that wounded her pride. She began speaking with more a darker tone than before.

"Are you stupid? Do you realize how serious your situation is right now? Or do you simply want to die right now?"

"Wait you weren't joking? You either have an interesting sense of humor or you are really looking down on the school. Do you honestly believe that I am a human?"

There were many students giving me an incredulous look wondering how I seemed to still be joking around with this girl after what she did to my desk. I wonder what the bullies of my past would have thought if they had seen me now. Akashiya-san was obviously on the breaking point of anger by how much she was shaking. I resumed talking, except with an angrier tone.

"Do you honestly believe that the school would make such a grave mistake as to allow a human to enter the school when the academy is trying to teach us to hide our existence from the humans? Do you believe that the staff would have made the mistake of passing a human? Are you looking down on Mikogami-san?"

Some of the murmurs seemed to have shifted from murderous intent to those siding with me. It seems that mentioning the credibility of Chairman-san had convinced some. The fact that I called the chairman by name also hushed many. But there was still quite a bit of obvious doubt as to my identity due to my confession of being a human. I hope someone asks the question that I'm looking for. I was purposely dodging the issue of what my monster identity was.

"But how do we know that you are not human. Tell us your identity Aono-san."

"Hey it's against school rules to reveal one's identity to anyone Saizou-kun."

"What harm is there in revealing it to us if it clears your suspicions? Doesn't the fact that you can't tell us mean that you are a human?"

That last comment froze the room again. Akashiya-san had said it with such a cold and factual tone that I could see that a few of my growing supporters starting to turn again. The small crowd outside the door had grown again and rustling could be heard. If I survived past today, I will definitely become a school celebrity. I gave a pause to collect myself and tried to speak in an exasperated tone.

"Akashiya-san, whatever did I do to you for you to ask me to commit suicide?"

"I never asked you to kill yourself. You are doing it by not revealing your identity."

"I know what you asked. You are asking me to dig my own grave."

Scanning the class I could see a lot of tilted heads and stern stares as they were trying to judge guess at what I was going to say next. I guess none of them really understood what I was getting at yet. I slapped my head and shook it.

I slowly said, "Everyone, revealing your true monster identity to the entire school will most likely get you killed. The rule about not revealing it has far more reasons behind it than simply practicing hiding yourself from the humans. We are monsters. We all have weaknesses based on our race. Any of you could take advantages of those weaknesses. I have no reason to reveal that to anyone publicly. I have even less reason to admit what race, what my weaknesses are, to someone who is blatantly trying to get me killed."

That comment earned me an angry glare from my pink haired accuser. She was emanating a dark aura around her just from my struggling, but I noticed that a lot of people were now staring at her questioningly. People from outside were even starting to come into the classroom to hear the argument better and because the crowd was getting bigger. It was large enough that I could make out a few words about how I was standing up to a… vampire. I continued to speak with growing confidence.

"There are even going to be some people to hunt you down for just your race sometimes. Would you all honestly be able to feel safe knowing that everybody in this school knows how to take advantage of your natural shortcomings? I know I wouldn't. I will only tell you that I am a human for that reason alone. Let it be known that I am a human."

That last statement earned a moment of silence from the class. There were whispers and many were gazing at me. I think some of those eyes were looking at me with respect, as though I had just faced down an elite monster. Those small whispers about her race must be true. But I thought vampires were weak to crosses.

I can't let the conversation end here. I could tell that should the fact that I am human actually get out, I would be killed. The situation had to change if I wanted to stay alive a bit longer. Dad, I hope you were right when you said that the best time to strike is when you have gained the respect of your audience.

"Akashiya-san, why should it matter if I were human anyways?"

The audience was clearly stunned again by what seemed like a stupid question to them. The vampire had her mouth gaping over the absurdity of where the conversation was going. I began pointing at her accusingly.

"We are all here to learn how to peacefully coexist with the humans in the first place. If we were actually being graded on this fundamental fact, you would never graduate at this rate. Were you actually planning on publicly executing me if had turned out to be human? Besides, what is wrong with being a human? You all have managed to live so far without creating a massive massacre of humans despite the fact that they are everywhere. If you did we wouldn't still be a secret to them. Sure humans can be quite bothersome and foolish. But I'm sure that you all can get along with humans. It's been the case for quite some time."

"We can never get along with the humans!"

Everyone snapped their heads to stare at where that shout originated from. That outburst surprisingly came from Akashiya-san. It was angry, but it was different from before. Her voice trembled and sounded slightly hurt. She continued yelling at me.

"Humans are the worst! They always gang up on other people! They bully and torture others! They ostracize their own kind simply because of something trivial! They start wars over issues as simple as the color of their skin or beliefs. They are a race that only knows how to hurt! They have no redeeming qualities!"

The statement shocked me. It wasn't because it was like someone was telling me I was a horrible person. I didn't even refute the fact that most of what she said was true. I couldn't disagree with her because she had obviously gone through a lot of what I had also. What I saw was what truly shocked me. What I saw wasn't a monster. I didn't even see an angry woman. I saw a scared and lonely girl underneath that cold and prideful image.

A lot of the people had now nodded their head and I could tell that many still believed in what Akashiya-san said. Many were even empathizing with her. I had to really give credit to the school in convincing these students with such a firm mentality that humans were naturally evil. Mikogami-san, you really should be giving me a salary for what I'm about to do now.

"How are they any different from us right now?"

Everyone quickly turned to me. I could tell that some seemed offended by what I had said. A lot of them seemed to really hate humans. Not wanting to bear the stabbing gazes, I continued.

"You say that humans gang up on people, that they bully and ostracize others. Look around and think about how we even got to talking about this. You were all about to gang up on me simply because you thought that I was a human. Akashiya-san, you even directed the entire class's hate to me. I never even met you before. It doesn't get more trivial than that. You were all about to kill me based on one person's opinion. You were about to single someone out from the entire group. You are all doing what you hate about the humans. No, even worse since humans only pick at others to make themselves feel better. Most never even consider pushing it into murder. You, on the other hand, made it very clear you wanted me dead from the get go. You wanted a complete stranger to die."

I was hoping to see the response of the audience, but I couldn't. I could feel a severe pain run along my entire back. Akashiya-san had apparently shoved me into the blackboard and I was raised a couple of inches off the floor. I could hear a lot of gasps and chairs moving. Looking in front of me, I saw a pair of green eyes. She putting a lot of pressure on me, and being in such a short distance to her, I noticed that it was hard to breathe. Her pride was clearly hurt and I could feel something demonic flowing from her.

"DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE ME TO A FILTHY HUMAN!"

I felt that a lot of my strength was gone from just surviving that attack. I couldn't struggle, so I began to whisper to her in a volume only she could hear.

"Yeah, I guess I really shouldn't compare a vampire to a human huh?"

I felt that her grip slightly slackened. Either she was pleased about me agreeing with her for once or she felt something dangerous from my comment. Maybe it was because of both reasons or for another. I continued to whisper to her.

"Remember when I said that you should never let another student find out about your true identity? Have you ever thought that maybe I am not a human as you have declared? Maybe I am one of the creatures that your race can't handle. Did you ever think that you might be dealing with a nokken?"

Her eyes dilated. She was afraid. She was definitely a vampire if she didn't want to deal anything involving water.

"Akashiya-san, if you don't mind would you please let go, you are tearing my uniform," I said calmly and in a voice everyone could hear.

She didn't let go, but I could tell she was thinking about what I had said. Everyone was still staring at where we were. It seems no one knew what to do since she was a vampire. The class and those outside seemed to be scared of getting in her way since she was so angry.

I inhaled and commanded, "Let me down right this instant!"

My sudden change in demeanor had startled her and she let go. I landed on my feet with a soft thud and she backed away slightly. It seems that I had managed to intimidate her despite being a human. The class and many of the people who could see us from the hallway were all gasping and whispering. Out of all of the chaotic responses there was one that stood out to me due to how many said it.

"Did he really get a vampire to obey him?"

I reached up my throat to straighten my tie, but I notice that the collar area was completely ripped to shred. My neck and some of my chest were exposed. Looks like I will be coming to school in casual clothing from now on. My back still hurting, I started to stretch and walk towards the exit.

Wanting to ensure the discussion was over, I nonchalantly said, "It's been interesting talking to you Akashiya-san, but it is lunch time. Talk to you later."

Moka's Perspective

I saw the black haired boy walk out the room. One of the girls actually ran out after him. What the hell was he?

Looking around the room, I saw the cracked board and impacted desk. He was not the least bit intimidated. He even made jokes. I was trying to get him killed and he played me as the fool. The very thought was infuriating. I started to tremble. It seems that many of the other students took it as a cue to get out away while they could.

I was angry at him because I knew he was human. I was angry at him because he was toying with me. I was angry at him because he made a mockery out of me. I was angry at him for comparing me to the humans. I was angry at him! But most of all, I was angry at myself. I was angry at myself for being scared of him, even if it was only for a second. How? How could a human have made my blood run cold? I could have easily crushed him, but I couldn't. Was this why that damn priest encouraged me to confront him? Was this why he was here?

I need some air and to be alone. Having nothing left here to do, I went up to the roof.

Tsukune's Perspective

It is only the first day, no class, and I already managed to tick off one of the most dangerous monsters. The fact that she sits right behind me during class doesn't help at all. I could also tell that my life was now the center attention of the school. I'll either be feared and respected for intimidating a vampire or be persecuted for declaring myself as a human. I have already been smashed into the wall and a few years of my life have probably been shaved off from the sheer mental stress of hiding my identity. Yet, I felt strangely happy. I don't even know why since all that has happened is that I got into a life or death argument. I wanted to make friends, not be forced to fight for my life. Maybe that happiness was simply because I was finally registering the fact that everyone here is a monster.

"Yahooooooooooooooo, Tsukune-kun!"

_Boing._

"Kurono-san, what are you doing?!"

I was blushing as this girl embraced me and pushed her voluptuous chest against my aching back. It took everything I could to not bow down in pain to the sudden, but soft, assault on my back.

"Tsu-ku-ne-kun, please call me Kurumu. Where are you headed off to?"

She had slipped from pressing up on my back and tried to get her face in front of mine. I quickly looked up and started to scratch my chin. I can't look into her eyes.

"I'm heading off to find a vending machine to find something to drink. It's probably too late to get anything from the cafeteria at this point."

"Do you mind if I join you Tsukune-kun?"

"I don't mind if you come along Kurumu-san," I said while looking away. She giggled at my response. I guess she thought I was just being shy around her. Though I guess I was a little shy since such a pretty girl was going to walk with me, even if it was just to the vending machine.

"Tsukune-kun, you were soooo amazing back there. You actually scared off a vampire and you did it while looking so cool and collected. It was like you were not even afraid of her."

"Well to be completely honest Kurumu-san, I was extremely scared. I thought I was going to die, no be obliterated so many times during it all."

"Ehhhh, you shouldn't tell an impressed girl that Tsukune-kun. It makes you look like a wimp."

"I prefer to be honest Kurumu-san. I feel that people just shouldn't lie to begin with"

Kurumu's Perspective

I guess the fact that Tsukune-kun is honest isn't a bad trait, but why isn't he looking at me? I need to get him to look into my eyes. He is too much of a catch to not have in my collection.

"Well, I guess honesty is a nice trait to have as well Tsukune-kun. Hey, would you mind telling me what you really are? I promise I won't tell anyone Tsu-ku-ne-kun."

He was still looking away, but I could tell that he was slightly tense. I have to know what he is now. It seems like such an interesting secret.

He calmly said, "Like I said in class, I'm human. I am nothing more and nothing less than a human."

"Mmmph, Tsukune-kun I thought you disliked lying," I pouted at him.

"Kurumu-san, I didn't lie to you. I did say that if anyone asked me about my identity I would say that I was human."

"That's pretty dirty trick Tsukune-kun. You shouldn't trick a girl like that. But now I'm really interested in what you are."

I started to press against him again; he still refused to look into my eyes. While I pressed against him I could smell an alluring scent from him. He smelled like a human. But he couldn't be. He did just scare off that vampire. This is just getting annoying. I really want him to be in my collection now. But why won't he look into my eyes. Guess I have to be less subtle about it.

"Hey Tsukune-kun, could you look into my eyes? I want to ask you something reeeaaally important."

"Sorry Kurumu-san, but no."

"Tsukune-kun I didn't know you were so mean. Why won't you look me in the eyes?"

"I'm not doing this to be mean. I'm not interested in becoming your mindless servant."

He said it so calmly, and I gawked at him.

"What do you mean Tsukune-kun? I couldn't possibly do that to you."

"I'm pretty sure you are a succubus Kurumu-san. I've known it since your introduction. It was pretty smart, using a charm when everyone had their eyes on you. The problem about charms is that once you know how it works, it is easy to avoid."

He knew the moment he saw me!? I may not have been hiding it, but he found out too quickly. I knew he must have been smart, but not this smart. I started to shake because it was frustrating at how I couldn't catch him yet. We were already at the vending machine now.

"That's pretty sly of you Tsukune-kun. If you already knew what I was, why did you let me get so close to you?"

His cheeks were turning red. Why are his cheeks turning red? He was also turning his neck. Now might be my chance!

"I was kind of happy that a classmate was interested in hanging out with me, even if you had been trying to brainwash me. I was hoping that we could be friends Kurumu-san."

His eyes were closed when facing me. But he had a really large goofy smile. It was really cute and felt really warm. It had no perversion or secret meaning behind it. He really meant what he said. I don't want him to lose that smile. It just felt too nice to lose for the sake of turning him into my slave. I sighed.

"Tsukune-kun, I promise I won't use my charm magic. So will you look at me since what I have to say next is important?"

Tsukune-kun looked hesitant, but he soon opened his eyes. I saw two very soft brown eyes that looked directly at me. They looked so trusting and innocent.

"I'll be your friend Tsukune-kun. Let's hang out again sometime."

That gentle smile that I thought couldn't get any happier did.

"Thanks Kurumu-chan. Oh what do you want from the machine? It's my treat."

Tsukune's Perspective

I'm really glad I came to this school. It has been a long time since I found another classmate who would be my friend. She seemed really nice and kept her promise not to charm me.

"Oh, I'll have a milk-coffee."

I turned and inserted the coin to purchase her order. While my back was turned to her, I felt her lean her back to mine. It was warm. She started to speak gently.

"Hey now that I'm your friend, could you tell me your monster form Tsukune-kun? I really want to know. You can trust me."

I chuckled softly. It was strange how I could be so honest with strangers before. Now that I had a friend for the first time in a while, I couldn't get the truth across to her. It felt like I was lying to her every single time I had to tell her. It is quite ironic as to how my I would lie to friends and tell the truth to strangers.

"I really do trust you Kurumu-chan. I really do. But like I said before, I'm just a human."

"I see," she said sadly. She soon moved away from my back and turned around. I pick up the milk-coffee and handed it to her. I didn't want to leave things on such a bad note.

"Hey Kurumu-chan, do you want to actually go eat lunch together tomorrow? I'll treat you again."

She looked up at me and gave me a smile. She had been smiling the whole way from the classroom to here, but they were cold. I could tell she was just doing it to get my attention before. The smile she was giving me now was real. But it was quickly replaced with a devilish grin.

"Ohhh Tsukune-kun, you're asking a girl out so soon. You're a real player aren't you? You wouldn't happen to be an incubus would you?"

I chuckled again.

"I'm just a human."

She giggled and began to strut away.

"I got some things I need to do before lunch is over. I'll hold you to that promise tomorrow."

She soon disappeared around a corner. I looked down at my watch and noted that there was still fifteen minutes until the five minute warning bell. Remembering that with all of the excitement today my mouth had become extremely dry, I turned back to the machine and bought myself two bottles of water. I also bought a can of tomato juice in case I ran into Akashiya-san. Looking around, I realized that there were a lot of angry glares from the guys in the hallway. I have had enough of these glares for today. I guess I'll head to the roof of the school.

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Also send reviews of things you liked or disliked so that I can try to improve the work. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.

#2: A nokken is a male water spirit. I felt that because vampires are weak to water, a water spirit would be one of the few species they would never be able to win a fight against. Why a nokken instead of another water spirit? They are notorious for drowning women and children in rivers. It would be a reasonable explanation for the smell.

#3: An incubus is the male form of a succubus. They are both demons that prey off of the sexual energy of the opposite gender, usually when a person is asleep.

#4: The reason why this chapter came out so soon was because I just got really into trying to make the arguments. It was really interesting trying to figure out the best persuasive stance to take, while still getting to the goal.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Beyond the Horizon

Moka's Perspective

The wind blew across the rooftop. I was all alone on the rooftop gazing off into the distance with nothing better to do. None of the other students here had bothered coming up here after me. The few students that were here before had quickly fled the moment I had stepped through the door. They just passed me without so much as looking at me. I could smell fear emanating from them as they passed. Word of my race seems to have already spread throughout the student body. It seems that all of the lesser species had already started forming groups. The silent roof and the gray sky reminded me how different I was compared to everyone else. There was no other here on the same level as me.

_Creak_

I turned and saw the source of my greatest shame since coming here. He stood for everything that I hated. He had the favor of Mikogami-san. He laughed at my attempts to ruin him. He played me for the fool. He turned everyone's opinion against me. He did not respect me as he should have. Aono-san was human. This human had instilled fear into me when he could do nothing to me. I wanted to rip him apart right now.

"Oh, Akashiya-san. Think fast."

He tossed something at me. Instinctively I caught it. It was a cold can of tomato juice.

"I figured you didn't have lunch yet, though I wasn't sure if I would have found you on the roof. Do you mind if I stayed on the roof for the rest of lunch?"

I don't understand this human. The human was reeking of fear in the classroom. He shows no fear around me now even though I openly attacked him and tried to get him killed. Either he was truly brave, or he just doesn't have any sense of danger at all. He must know that I want to erase his existence. Why does such a lowly human have no respect for me?

"Tch, do what you want. Just don't blame me if I decide to throw you off the roof."

I laughed wryly as I began to contemplate the idea just to see what he would have looked like crying for mercy. He ignored my humor and walked to the rails running across the edge of the roof. His back was turned to me. The wind blew once more and I could smell the alluring scent drift off from him. Not wanting to drink his blood, I quickly started drinking the tomato juice. I don't want to be indebted to this human for drinking his blood.

_Gulp gulp puhhha._

It seems the human was drinking something as well as he stood staring off into the distance. A few moments passed as I tried to figure out what he was after. If it was any other human, it would have not have irritated me as much. But he was clearly not normal. He was chosen by that damn priest. The human had clearly shown at least a fraction as to why he was different from the others of his kind.

"Hey, Akashiya-san. I know that you do hate me and all, but why?"

He was talking to me as he kept looking off into the black spiny branches of the forest.

"I just hated humans. Now I have personal vendetta. You didn't know your place and disrespected me. I won't forgive you even if you were to beg for it."

"You know that's not what I was really asking. I wanted to know why you hated humans. Were you simply looking down on my species? Or were you talking from personal experience?"

This human irks me to no end. Who does he think he is talking to me as if he was at my level?

"I can probably guess though. You lived in the human world, a place where people didn't believe monsters existed. People felt you were different because you said monsters were real. You got bullied for believing, but didn't fight back because you would just get in trouble with the adults. It was also probably really frustrating too since you see us as inferior."

"…"

"I'm guessing from your silence that I'm right."

"What do you know? You can't possibly understand what I went through," I muttered. Though I didn't want to admit it, he was right. It really hurt that someone else knew about my past. To know about what I wished I had never had to go through. I could barely stand the fact that a human was trying to give me solace.

He chuckled softly and his head tilted down. That small laugh of his really annoyed me. He always seemed to act as though he knew more than me. He was now swirling the bottle he had been drinking from. He started to reply to me in a sad tone.

"I can't say I know what it is like to be treated poorly by inferior beings. But I do understand a few things Akashiya-san. I believed in monsters before coming here. I was bullied by my classmates and shunned because I was different. I know what it's like not being able to fight back. What it is like being alone when you should have been surrounded by friends. If it is any consolation to you…"

The boy started to walk away from the rail and turned towards me. He then got on his knees and bowed with his head touching the ground.

"Akashiya-san. Though it is presumptuous of me to act as a representative of humanity, I'm truly sorry for how humanity has treated you. I know that we can be quite foolish at times and even cruel, but it does have its moments. It does have its moments when all those bad things can just be swept away, even for just a moment."

I am glad his eyes were faced down. I had wanted him to beg for my mercy since the beginning, but I had never expected him to do this. This scene just made my jaw drop by how wrong this felt. It hurt just looking at him.

"I told you before that I would never forgive you Aono-san."

"I wasn't asking for forgiveness for what I have done. I was simply doing my best to survive in a world I probably do not belong in. I was asking you to give humans another chance. It is a large world. There is bound to be someone in it that can convince you that humanity can be more than what you have already seen."

"Oh, and do you figure that that person would be you?"

It was at this point that he started to raise his head. He was slowly getting up. His once apologetic tone was shifting to one full of melancholy. He resumed speaking once more and looked straight at my eyes.

"No, I myself am still looking for people like that. I am still looking for people that convince me that the world isn't so cruel. I am still looking for people who I can call my friends."

I frowned at him. His problem and goal sounded to go far beyond the human world. It seemed that he was talking about all life and not just that of humanity's.

"You make it sound like you have problems with monsters as well. It sounds as though you believe that humans and monsters are one and the same."

He chuckled again at my comment. It didn't annoy me this time though; it intrigued me instead. It seems that my comment overlooked something he believed to be basic fact. He shifted his tone once more. He began speaking in a light hearted and hopeful tone.

"The race of an individual is irrelevant to me. To me people are just people. They can misunderstand each other. People fight and argue over things. Many simply don't get along because they have different goals. This is a common problem in both the human and monster worlds. I only wish to seek out people whom I can get along with. I wish to see a world of understanding rather than conflict."

"Tch. Stupid, if we were able to have gotten along in the first place then we wouldn't even have to be here at this academy. What if you can't make this coexistence possible?"

His last comment really annoyed me. I could see why Mikogami-san had chosen this human to come to this school. He was just a sentimental idealist. He was a naïve boy that hoped for the best. He was too soft. His gentle nature made me sick in a way that greatly differed from his natural weakness as a human.

He was in the world of monsters now. What truly mattered was power here. It was even truer in vampire society. It disgusted me as to how such a weakling managed to enroll in this academy. He even managed to scare me before. Though his gentleness was repulsive, it was strangely comforting in a sense. It touched a part of me. It was faint, but I felt a part of me wanting to see what he saw.

"I will simply continue forward as I have always done. I will not let the failures of today or yesterday hold me back from my goal. I will simply march on to the next day to see what's over the horizon."

"How can you be so hopeful? You are all alone in this school. You have no guarantee that anything will go your way. You are less likely to find this so called hope of yours here than back in the human world."

I could see tell from his eyes that what I had wasn't the case. That he already knew that he wasn't alone. Why? Why? Why? Why was he succeeding when I couldn't before? I continued to question him. I began to question his resolve.

"What if you can't reach a **peaceful** conclusion like you had managed today? I'm sure it will be unlikely that you can ever live through your life without conflicts more violent than the one we had today. It will be likely that those that will come close to you will be hurt as well. You are in the world of monsters now. Power is a key aspect here. You can't escape conflicts on this path."

His demeanor began to shift once more. His once happy image soon became calm. He gave an aura of complete acceptance. He then proceeded to talk in a normal voice, as though he were stating a given fact. The human spoke as if what he was saying was something simple and nothing special. It was as though it was a normal thought.

"Then I will just protect the tomorrow that I have worked so hard into finding. If I cannot reason with another person over an issue, then so be it. I will still continue to look for more friends along my way and protect them. To me these people will likely mean the world to me."

The bell rang.

"It looks like we need to head back to class Akashiya-san."

He started to pull away and walked to the door. I wanted to ask him one last thing before he went. It had been on my mind the moment he had stepped through that door.

"Aono-san, I just wanted to ask you something. Why were you not afraid of me?"

"Hahahahaha. That's all? To be honest I was afraid of you at first. But after getting to know you, I realized that you wouldn't kill me like I had thought you would."

"Why did you think that?"

He smiled and said, "I think you know the answer to that yourself. Now we have to go or we'll be late for class."

We both started to walk back to class. As we walked I began to realize that this human was definitely different from the other humans, but not in the way I had thought before when I realized he was Mikogami-san's test subject. He was kind. He was still too soft-hearted, but at least he had the backbone to stand behind his beliefs. This human does not know his own place in the world, but it felt right for some reason. I'm intrigued at how he will survive the next three years. How will he cope with his future challenges? I actually do hope that he will grow into something great. For now, he is just all words. He is just a human that can talk big for now.

Tsukune's Perspective

I'm glad the Akashiya-san seems to have calmed down. I no longer sense the murderous hostility she had shown me before. I do however feel that she saw me as an insect. She seemed to be treating me as an interesting spectacle that she could squash at a moment's notice should I incur her wrath once more.

I do wish I could get to know her better though. She seemed to have something in common with me when it came to dealing with humans. My life right now also seems to be almost the exact situation that she must have found herself in before. I don't want to keep the sad and lonely girl I had seen in the classroom stay the way she was. It was just too sad to see someone be all alone.

"Aono-kun!"

Nekonome-sensei soon came bounding to me as soon as she had called out to me. Both Akashiya-san and I turned and looked as our teacher approached us.

"I'm glad I found you Aono-kun, Chairman-sama wants to see you meow."

"What about class Nekonome-sensei? Do I need to know anything important before heading off?"

"Nyaaah Aono-kun. The only thing we will be doing in class is discuss safety precautions. Most of them are pretty basic and follow common sense. Some are just about not messing with the PSC or picking fights with other students. Another one would be to not declare that you are human, even if it were a joke since most of the monsters here don't think too highly of them. Hmm, what's with the looks Aono-kun… and what happened to your uniform?"

I was trying to smile to show that nothing was wrong, but two of those precautions turned my face into a complete mess of twitches and spasms. I knew that what I did was probably stupid just from reading the contract, but to hear that it was also a natural safety precaution for monsters made me feel really stupid. If anything had gone wrong, I would definitely be dead now. I would have been dead even if I were a monster and not a human.

Looking at Akashiya-san, I could see her giving a slightly sadistic smile. If I weren't in my shoes right now, I probably would have the same reaction. It looks like I was right when I thought she saw me as an interesting spectacle. She was getting a lot of pleasure seeing me squirm. I couldn't collect myself like I normally could when I tried to respond to Nekonome-sensei.

"N-n-n-nothing's wrong sensei, I just might be a bit tired since it is the first day. As-as-as for the uniform… well that doesn't matter. I don't want to keep Chairman-san waiting."

I briskly started to walk away towards Mikogami-san's office. I didn't want to explain the damage to school property as well. As I was about to enter the administration building, I heard a faint and distant nyah.

Mikogami's Perspective

_Knock Knock_

"Come in."

The door in front of my table swung opened and through it I saw my experiment walk through. He seemed quite worn out by the way he was dragging his feet slightly.

"Hi Chairman-san, I am here to give my report on my first day here."

I smiled at him. It's only the first lunch break, and I have already heard his name float around the school. Because the gossip of the students is merely the squabbling of children, I already had an idea that they had to be about his encounter with Akasha's child.

"Ah, Aono-kun. I was expecting you. Come sit and do tell me how your first day has been. Did you have any interesting encounters so far?"

I motioned to him to sit in the chair in front of me. He was giving me a look as though he wasn't too surprised at my last statement. He sat and told his story to me.

"I see. You may go now Aono-kun." I motioned him to leave as I said this, and he was soon out of the room.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…"

Aono-kun you are more than I could have ever hoped for in a test subject. You scared off that vampire without so much as lifting a finger. I never would have thought that she would have back away from you. I never thought her pride would have allowed her to falter so easily.

What's more interesting is that you brazenly declared that you were a human to the entire school, and you are still alive. It seems that my warning in the contract fell on deaf ears, but it also seems that I was wrong. Still, I doubt anyone would have thought you would reveal yourself, and on the first day no less. Even my last test subject only had the gall to reveal his identity to one person.

You even made a friend on your first day here despite claiming to be a human. No, you made a friend here because you were human. It surprised me more when you revealed that she was a succubus. You weren't her slave, but her friend. It seems that you mere presence is already making students more comfortable with the idea of coexisting with humans.

I do have to thank you Aono-kun. You have made this dragging eternity much more interesting. Even if it is only for a few more years, I do want to see what else there is to you that I haven't seen yet. Aono-kun, how do you keep exceeding my expectations? For your sake, I do hope you keep breaking them.

_Knock Knock_

"Come in."

A student with long blonde hair and black uniform came walking through the door. He was angry. I smiled at him. Aono-kun, you really have a way of attracting the worst enemies don't you. It seems that your declaration has attracted the attention of Kuyou Bijou. I smiled as I motioned the leader of the Public Safety Committee to sit down.

Tsukune's Perspective

I found myself walking away from the school since my report lasted until the end of the school day. My back was still aching from being slammed into the chalkboard. The surrounding area was empty aside from the black trees of the forest path to the dorms.

Somewhere along the way to the dorms, I could hear the sound of someone talking. But I couldn't hear anyone else talking back. The voice was gentle and seemed to call to my curiosity. I followed the voice through the black forest. With each step I took, the gentle voice became clearer. After a short walk in the forest, I found myself standing in an open area that led to a few cliffs that was overlooking the red sea. One cliff that stood out from the rest had an interesting swirl shape. It jutted out and managed to curve in to itself. It looked like the swirling shape of the cochlea you would find in the ear.

In this empty expanse, I found the source of the voice. She was sitting on the cliff with her back facing me while she continued to talk. I was still too far to distinctly tell what she was saying. I began to walk closer.

_Snap_

Mizore's Perspective

I turned to see the black-haired boy from class coming from the forest. His uniform was still ripped from earlier.

"Ah, sorry… Shirayuki-san. I saw you sitting on the cliff, but I wasn't sure whether or not to call out to you. I'm sorry if I scared you."

Why was he apologizing? I turned back to stare off into the sea once more.

I coolly said," I don't mind."

I could hear him walk closer. As soon as he was a couple of feet away from me he asked, "How's the view?"

What a strange boy. Even if we are classmates now, I wonder why he was approaching me. It's not like it matters too much. Maybe he just wanted to look at the view too since we do have the same interest. Well at least similar interests.

"It's nice Tsukune. Do you care to join me?"

I motioned for the boy to sit next to me.

"Ah, sure Shirayuki-san."

"Call me Mizore."

"Huh?"

"I prefer to be called Mizore."

"Uhhh… Okay Mizore-san," he hesitantly said as he sat next to me.

The wind blew across as we watched the ocean. The sun was now hanging low in the now reddening sky. I could hear the wind whistle through the spiny branches of the forest behind us. His breathing was also audible as he sat there with me. For some reason he reminded me of a boy that I had found after my first heartbreak. He didn't comment about how I was weird or alone. His presence was comforting. I decided to break the silence.

"Tsukune."

He looked at me after I called his name. I was still looking out into the seas before us.

"Aren't you afraid?"

His brown eyes were now giving me a look of confusion as to what I had meant.

"I know you are really a human. Aren't you scared of being at this school?"

He turned his brown eyes from me and looked back to the ocean when he asked, "Is it really that easy to tell that I'm a human?"

"Yes," I said flatly.

"Well Mizore-san, I'm not scared of the monsters at this academy. I always knew that monsters existed, and I find that my life right now is more interesting than scary."

"But didn't you get into this school by accident?"

He laughed softly at my statement. He seemed completely at peace with his life.

"Nah, I knew what I was getting into. I still wanted to get into this school despite knowing. Though I can't say the same for my family if they ever found out what this school was for."

I looked at him incredulously. My jaw was dropped and I could feel the lollipop in my mouth slipping. He chose to be with monsters rather than with his own kind. He wasn't here by accident, but he chose to. He must believe all of the terrible things said about us if he believed we existed.

"Aren't you scared of monsters Tsukune? Most of the stories humans hear about us end tragically for your kind."

"No. I am not afraid of monsters so long as they don't blatantly try to harm me."

"How can you be sure that we wouldn't hurt you? You were even attacked today. You have nothing to base your safety on."

"I do."

His eyes started to mist over. As he was looking at the horizon, his voice was becoming full of nostalgia as he appeared to be remembering a precious moment.

"I was saved by a monster once. She was really kind. Her memory has been what has been keeping my belief in monsters alive. She has also been the reason why I have faith that the students here wouldn't all try to kill me."

I wished I had met this Tsukune before my first love. I sighed. It was a sigh of disappointment. I wasn't disappointed that I hadn't met him before my first love. I felt disappointed because it seems he really wishes to meet this girl again. I don't know if he held romantic feelings for her, but I could tell he cared for her dearly.

I asked him, "Is she why you like looking out into the distance? Do you want to meet her again?"

He softly spoke, "Yeah. Staring off into the distance reminds me of her. I saw her in a beautiful natural view when I first met her. I want to see her again so that I can properly thank her for not letting me die. I wasn't able to because I had blacked out, but I knew she saved me."

"Do you want to be with her?"

He shook his head gently.

"I only knew her for a day. I can't say that I do since I didn't have enough time to get to know her. I can't even distinctly remember too much of the time we spent together. I can't even recall her face anymore."

"How do you intend to thank her if you don't even remember her?"

His head tiled downwards at this fact.

"Yeah, I don't even think she would remember me either. But I still want to thank her. Even if the only thing I can do is find where we first met again. I'm sure that if I could get to the place we met, my feelings will reach her."

I patted his back. I wanted him to know that I knew he would get there eventually. But I felt kind of glad that he wasn't spoken for already. He seemed to have a lot of care for this woman, even if it wasn't romantically. I was kind of jealous of her.

"Ow."

Tsukune was reeling from me patting his back. I had forgotten about how that girl in class had smashed him into the wall. He was a human so his back must be completely bruised by now.

"I'm sorry Tsukune!"

"It's okay, you didn't know."

Though he said that, he was wincing. It must have hurt a lot.

"Hey Tsukune, can you turn around? I think I can make your back feel better."

He looked at me wondering at what I would do, but he quickly turned his back to me. I turned around as well. After moving my hair to uncover my back, I pressed my back to his. He shuddered for a second, but relaxed soon after. His back was really warm.

"Do you feel better now?"

Tsukune's Perspective

"My back feels a lot better. Thank you."

Her back was so cool to the touch. I could feel how frail she was from how gently she pushed her back into mine. There was a soft pulse coming from her that ran throughout her body. It made the pain in my back ease away. I didn't want her to move away from my back.

We sat with our backs together. We listened and felt the beats from our hearts. We heard each other breath. Both the sky and sea were red as time passed slowly. When we finally parted our backs, the sun was already setting and disappearing beyond the sea.

We started to head back to the dorms. It was then I realized that it was cold. Looking at Mizore-san, I saw that her face was slightly red. I didn't want her to catch a cold. I removed my jacket and placed it over her shoulders. She jumped in surprise and turned her blue eyes towards my eyes.

"It's cold. I don't want you to get sick."

"But I'm a snow woman. I don't get cold Tsukune."

I blushed as I realized that that made sense. She did have a cool touch.

"But thank you for caring."

She said this as she curled up in the jacket. She looked really cute and precious. I wanted to hold her, but I didn't since I felt she might be annoyed. I didn't want to push her away by trying to hold her close.

We soon reached the boy's dorm entrance, which was quite close to the girl's dorm. I would have escorted her to her dorm first, but I she insisted that we get me to the dorms first since the night was cold to me. She tried to hand me back my jacket since I was going inside now. But she seemed like she really liked that jacket from the way seemed almost reluctant to let go. I blushed from that.

"You can keep it if you want. You seem to really like that jacket."

"Don't you need it for school?"

"I was thinking of just coming in casual clothing from now on since the uniform is optional. Besides, the jacket is ripped up from today anyways."

Though her face didn't really show any emotions, I could see a light pop up in her eye. She just nodded thanks and started to run to the girl's dorm.

After she left my field vision, I walked into my new home. I went to the convenience store to buy a few things for tonight. As I was paying for the things that I had bought, I couldn't help but wonder about what I would experience tomorrow.

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Also send reviews of things you liked or disliked so that I can try to improve the work. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.

#2: Also another early release. Reason why… I'm just procrastinating on school work now. It was fun writing this chapter as well though.

#3: I'm also so glad that everyone really liked the previous chapter. It honestly feels really nice knowing when the work I put into it was well received. It was a very fun chapter. I can only hope that this chapter will receive as much praise as the last one. Though I will admit talking down a vampire is a hard thing to match.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Rising Troubles

_Riiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnggggg_

I shut my alarm off. My entire body felt stiff as I began to get up and move about my room. Moving from my bed, I maneuvered around the chair and chabudai that I had left alone last night. After getting my toothbrush, paste and cup, I exited my room to see a myriad of monsters moving about along the sink placed in front of all of the rooms. But as I approached the sink, the monsters around the sink stared at me curiously.

"Hey Aono-san, are you an S-rank monster or are you a monster that has become an SS-rank monster?"

I looked up to the person next to me who had asked nervously. The person next to me was a rokurokubi with his neck completely extended and forming loops. I looked back down and I spat the rinse in my mouth into the sink. I simply responded the way I had been since yesterday.

"I'm a human."

I technically shouldn't even have been saying that in this school for monsters since it was very likely that the others would try to kill me for being a human. But no one would ever consider that I was a human since I was able to intimidate Akashiya-san yesterday. It's funny how a lot of people think I am an SS-rank monster. Apparently any monster could achieve the level as long as they have the ability to stop an S-rank monster without so much as batting an eye.

I had finished brushing my teeth in relative silence. It seems that many of the monsters were still wondering if they should approach me. They clearly wanted to know what I was, but were afraid of possibly angering a monster that could not only kill them, but annihilate their existence. I sighed as I realized that it would probably take a while before these guys would be able to get to know me.

I made my way back into my single to get changed for school. After removing the top part of my pajama, I looked at my back in the mirror. My lower and upper back just below the neck were completely black and blue. I winced as I remembered at how I managed to get a full body bruise on the first day. It had even been a lot worse yesterday. If any of the other students saw what they had seen now, they would immediately have known that my intimidation was a onetime fluke. I considered showing my back to the others to show that I'm not dangerous. I only played with the thought for a moment until I remembered who gave me the bruise and why I got it. Yeah, angering Akashiya-san by declaring that she was scared of a weak monster was not exactly on the top of list of things to do at Yokai Academy.

I continued to dress and found myself in a pair of black jeans, a grey long-sleeved shirt, and a brown leather jacket. I looked in the mirror and checked how my backside looked. I am really glad they didn't require a uniform for this school. I could at least choose what I will be buried in now.

Before I decided to go to school, I picked up my book bag, pocketed a few ice potion I had bought from the convenience store on the first floor, the keys to my room, and the small carving knife that I had also bought here. I also called out, "Ittekimasu," even though there was no one to bid me itterasshai. The silence reminded me about the life I had left behind. Even though I could die at any day and have the memory of me wiped away by Mikogami-san, I still felt happy. I was still living in such an amazing world and I already made a couple of friends.

I left that room with a smile today as I wondered what was in store for me today. I walked down to the entrance and realized I was hungry. The store was closed since the owner had something to do and wouldn't be back until after school. I had to go to the cafeteria to eat today. I cursed at how inconveniently the school worked sometimes. Well I was leaving early anyways so it's not like it matters. It also appears that I wasn't the only one who was disgruntled by the lack of service.

I stepped forward unto another school day as I walked up the pathway to school.

Moka's Perspective

Why was the convenient store closed today? A servant should always be there to serve the master. Even those humans made better servants than the employees here. I couldn't get any breakfast or tomato juice. This morning is just so annoying. Why do I have to come here? Both of my older sisters were able to get home tutoring before. My head felt light from all of the frustration. Whatever, I'll just get to school and buy some tomato juice.

"Hey Moka. Come with me, I'll make it worth your time."

Talking about annoyances, someone dared to call out to me and refer me to my first name. I turned to see that sleezy orc that had been eyeing me during class yesterday. His tongues were licking his lips as he stared lustfully at me. I began to walk away silently as I did not want to waste my energy on the likes of his species.

_Cheh_

The brute grabbed my arm to stop me. I could feel the urge to kill him grow with each passing second I had to breath the same foul air he was breathing in. I waved my arm to release his grip. I managed to break free, but I started to feel really weak from hunger now.

"I'm not interested in your ilk. Know your place. If you refuse to learn, I show you where you will belong."

I began to walk past him again before his arm shot up in front of me. I glared at him, but it seems that he was not the least bit scared of me despite my warnings. His despicable tongue was now slithering out as he began to speak.

"I'm not scared of you. You may act violent, but you can't be all that strong if you couldn't get that wimp to obey you. Follow me before you regret it. I won't take no for an answer and I'll show you a good time."

I really didn't want to deal with him so I moved past him once more. I suddenly felt a strong grip on my arm.

"See all bark and no bite. Maybe vampires aren't so great after all."

I glared at him and considered how I would torment him for the years to come for his comment.

"Oy, Komiya-san! It's impolite and illegal to throw yourself on a woman who said no."

Both the disgusting monster and I looked at the owner of the voice who was walking up. It was Aono-san and he was wearing a different set of clothes today. It seems he did not have or did not wish to pay for another uniform.

"Huh, what do you want Aono. This doesn't even concern you. Just keep walking and I won't hurt you."

I looked at the human with curiosity and wondered what he would do. He was only human that managed to talk his way around me, but he wouldn't be able to help me without getting into a physical fight. Though his opponent would be an orc, for humans that was usually a very fatal encounter. His back was also hurt from the amount of force I had slammed him into the wall yesterday. If it had been any other human, they would have simply ran away yesterday or be devoured by the monsters here. Who am I kidding? He would obviously just walk away. He was naïve, but not stupid.

"I can't just let another student try to have his way with a girl in front of me. It just wouldn't sit right."

My curiosity now changed into just pure amazement. He was talking to a monster that could clearly crush him and he was talking quite arrogantly. Aono-san, I never pegged you for a fool. You were signing your own death warrant at this point. After thinking about it, I should have realized that that was exactly what he would have done. He was here after all. But his idealism will kill him if he didn't have the strength to follow through.

The orc yelled vehemently, "Oh and what can a weakling do?"

"I'll just have to stop you."

How does this human intend to do this? Aono-san had no visible weapons and he was more inferior to this beast in terms of fighting ability. His comment clearly made the orc angry as he released me and started to charge the human screaming, "You are so dead."

The boy was smiling and then it was all over in a moment. The orc was lying on the ground with his face planted in the ground. Most of the people who had started gathering around after watching my predicament wondered how the boy had defeated the beast in a couple of seconds. I saw what had happened and knew that he had used such a basic trick, a trick that was child's play in my society.

Because the orc was charging him, the body balance was easier for the human to throw off. I saw that the human had simply ducked under the blow and got the monster off his feet. In that moment the orc had lost. All Aono-san did after the initial fall was simply grab the orc's head and then he redirected it into the ground. The orc had really down all of the work since most of the momentum he was carrying was what was used to plow him against the floor. Aono-san won not from his own merit, but because his opponent was a bumbling idiot. Though I will admit that he did play his cards right considering he was actually outclassed in terms of strength and his mobility.

He soon came trotting up to me and asked, "How's your morning been?" This human was acting as though nothing had happened.

Tsukune's Perspective

If I wanted to hide the fact that I was a human, I was sure doing a great job at it despite declaring it out loud in front of the entire school. I could hear the other students already gossiping.

"Wow, he took down Saizou in a second."

"I know. Even the teachers and security officers were wondering how to handle him."

"I heard that Saizou was sent here because he had multiple offenses for assaulting people."

It was sexual assault. It wasn't really for physical assault against people like the police. I would know. I sit next to him in class.

"Hey doesn't this prove that Aono-san is really strong?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't seem really mean at all."

"But aren't most S-rank and SS-rank monsters really bad in character? I mean he did just beat down another student."

"Yeah, but he was stopping Saizou from having his way with a girl."

The gossips continued, but I was getting a hard stare from the girl who was standing in front of me. I couldn't tell if she was angry that it was me talking to her or just angry about today.

"Why did you step in human? I could have handled it myself."

This vampire was as prideful as always. It seemed she was more irritable today though.

"You probably could have. But it is like I said before, it just wouldn't sit well with me if I had just let things slide. Though knowing you, I probably just saved his life."

"Then are you looking down on my species as a whole? Do you think that your human standards applied to us as well?"

She didn't seem the least bit offended that I had just insinuated that she was very violent. At least she knew that much. Though this girl would never be pleased with anything I could say to her. She was taking offense for me just deciding to step in and stopping someone from annoying her.

"No, but I can tell you are looking down on me. You didn't think I would actually do anything to help you did you?"

"You are a human and I never thought you would be stupid enough to go openly fight an orc. It was an interesting spectacle, but it was really stupid on your part."

Just trying to get around her pride was really draining my energy. I was actually getting tired to the point I accidently made a comment that I would regret.

"You know a simple thank you would be nice to hear."

"…"

She was giving me a stare as though she was wondering if I had gotten brain damage overnight. That was the nicest look she had given me since I met her.

"Come on, we got to go to school. The convenience store was closed and I want to get some breakfast in."

I walked away and heard her mutter, but I couldn't hear what. She was probably commenting on how insolent I was. She soon followed and caught up to me as we passed through the gate.

_Thud_

I turned and found Akashiya-san on the ground breathing heavily.

I cried out, "Akashiya-san. Hey what's wrong?"

She was really pale. I looked around and noticed that the infirmary was close by. I lifted her up and quickly ran to the office. The whole time I could feel she was struggling to push me away. How much pride does this girl have to try to push away help even in this situation?

I made it to the office and let the school nurse give her a checkup. I waited outside wanting to make sure that she would be okay.

"Aono-kun."

The nurse walked out of the office. It seems that she wanted to tell me what was happening.

"She'll be fine. She just had a case of anemia. Once she gets some bed rest, she can go out and get some tomato juice. Though I do wish we had the blood packs in today. It would be a lot easier to just get her some."

"Why isn't the blood in? Isn't that actually really important to make sure no one bleeds to death here?"

The nurse just shook her head.

"It is a predicament, but for some reason there has been a large shortage of blood from where we get ours. It seems that Fairytale hasn't been able to keep up with the amount that we need. Our order is even late. I'll go check up with the desk to see if any has come in. Can you watch Akashiya-san for me while I'm gone?"

"Sure thing."

The nurse soon left and I walked into the office. I found that Akashiya-san was trying to get up.

"Akashiya-san, you need to rest."

She gave me a weak glare and spoke weakly, "I need to get to class. I can't be seen in such an unsightly manner."

I sighed as I realized that nothing I could do or say could convince her not to stay in bed. I can't believe that she was so prideful that I was already giving up trying to stop her before I really did anything. I couldn't help but respect her for actually living with so much pride.

"Fine, but I know you need blood. I'll let you have some."

She scowled and retorted, "I don't need help from a lesser species, much less a human."

My brows just furled in frustration now. Why does she have to make everything so difficult? I raised my voice at her.

"Fine! Then just think of it as a gift like yesterday and the tomato juice! If you still can't accept my blood then I'll just leave you to do what you want!"

I didn't see her expression because at this point I was on the verge of just leaving the room. I was hungry and taking care of a person who didn't want my help. Why did I even care? We weren't even really friends to begin with. She even physically assaulted me in the first place and wanted me dead before I had gotten to know her.

"Itadakimasu."

I suddenly felt her fangs sink into my neck. Even though I was telling her to drink, I didn't actually expect her to do so from the way she acted. I resisted the urge to push her head away from my neck because her drinking from my neck hurt a lot. After a few moments, I got light headed and she let go of my neck. She had a healthy color to her skin now. It also seems like the punctures on my neck had closed too since no blood was coming out of it anymore.

"You have great quality blood Tsukune. Though your personality could use some work, your blood was quite rich in flavor."

She was looking at me with her eyes closed and giving a content smile as though she just had a five star meal.

"Thank you soooo much for the compliment about my blood Akashiya-san, I dooo hope you come again."

Though I was glad she was feeling better, it honestly annoyed me how she told me she was grateful.

"Call me Moka, we're on blood drinking terms now."

I was just tired now. I had just fought off an orc, carried a vampire from the gate to the infirmary, got my blood sucked out of me and I still hadn't eaten. The only thing I could do was just give her an exasperated look with my mouth open. I was just speechless at how this girl acted sometimes.

The bell rang and with that Moka started to walk out the door. She looked back and smirked at me.

"Come on Tsukune, we'll be late to class if you don't get moving."

She was soon gone. I get it now. She was just getting back at me for yesterday. My existence was just something she found fun to play with. I know she will probably be the death of me. Not even Mikogami-san scared me as much as she did. At least he left me to do what I wanted for his fun. He didn't want to torture me… I think. I listlessly walked to my classroom wondering if I could make it to lunch. I don't remember too much about the morning classes.

The bell rang and the teacher left. I got up as I wanted to get some food in before I passed out.

_Bang_

Several students in black uniforms came marching in. They all had a yellow armband labeled with Public Safety Committee. They were glaring at me and everyone was wondering what I had done to attract the committee on the second day of school.

"Aono Tsukune, we are here to detain you on the suspicion that you are a human. Please come with us so that we may interrogate you or we'll be forced to use any means necessary."

As much as I loved this school and had the patience to handle Moka's pride, I would not just stand for this anymore. I just lost my temper from the sheer stress of the day. I stepped menacingly to the officer in my way. He was already cowering because he had heard the other rumor about me.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY! I'M HUNGRY AND I ALREADY HAVE PLANS FOR LUNCH! TRY TO STOP ME IF YOU DON'T MIND BECOMING MY LUNCH!"

At this point the student was backing away in fear. I guess he wasn't expecting me to put up a fight. But he still stood in my way.

"Bu-bu-but if I don't take you in to discuss whether or not you are a hu-hu-human, Kuyou-sama will kill me."

"THOSE ARE SOME SERIOUS ACCUSATIONS! IF HE HAS A PROBLEM WITH ME THEN HE SHOULD COME FACE ME! BESIDES, ARE YOU ANY BETTER OFF NOW THAN IF YOU JUST TELL HIM WHAT I TOLD YOU!?"

"Bu-bu…"

"I JUST TOSSED AROUND AN ORC THIS MORNING! I WILL EAT YOU DAMMIT!"

The student quickly stepped to the side.

"It's nothing Aono-sama. I will send your message to Kuyou-sama. Please have a nice lunch."

I used my head to gesture to Kurumu-chan and stormed out of the room. We both got lunch at the cafeteria.

Kurumu's Perspective

Tsukune-kun was wolfing down through a several orders of food. He wasn't kidding when he said he was hungry. I think he may have actually been serious when he told the male student that he would eat him. Maybe he was a monster that specialized in consuming. The only monster I could think of that would really eat another monster and have the strength to scare off a vampire was another vampire. But he couldn't be since vampires are too proud to claim to be any other species. In any case, I am happy that he managed to get out of his situation. He had finished eating and turned to me. He was smiling.

"I feel so much better now. Kurumu-chan, how do you like your lunch?"

His smile was the same goofy one as yesterday. He was still the same boy as yesterday. Even though he was a bit scary earlier, I could tell that he was still really gentle on the inside.

"Tsukune-kun, I thought you were scared of Akashiya-san before. How could you brush off the PSC so easily?"

He laughed sheepishly.

"A lot of things happened this morning and I hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. I was just really hungry. Was I scary?"

He was frowning at the thought that he may have scared me. He was really cute at how he looked like he was about to cry from the thought that I might run away. The fact he cared was quite heartwarming.

"You were more funny than scary. I liked how you threatened to eat him if he didn't move. The look on his face was just so wimpy."

We both laughed at how strange it seemed to have Tsukune-kun scaring another student. It just seemed so out of place.

"I was hoping that you were just that desperate to eat lunch with me. It makes a girl feel special when a man goes that far for her."

He suddenly got really red. He started to scratch the back of his head as he was trying to find what words he wanted to say. This boy really is cute when he acts flustered.

"Well, I did make a promise with you to eat lunch. I wasn't going to let something as small as the PSC stop me."

"Oh, that's so sweet Tsukune-kun. I also like your look too. If it wasn't for the fact that I know you had nothing to wear I would have thought you dressed up for our date."

Though he could have been just saying he looked forward to our lunch to make me happy, I didn't care. I did make me happy because I felt that he was always honest… usually. I still wished he could tell me what he was. I was looking at him wondering why he couldn't tell me. That was when I noticed the hickey on his neck.

"Ohhhh Tsukune-kun, I didn't know you had a lover. Won't your girl get jealous if she sees you eating with me?" I asked playfully to hide my disappointment.

His tilted wondering what I was talking about. I pulled out my compact mirror and pointed at where the hickey was. He was touching and giving an expression of confusion. Wait, why does he have a hickey and not know about it? I began to worry about what may have happened to him. Did some strange girl do something to him? His facial expression changed as he realized where it came from.

"Ah I remember now. This isn't a hickey. This must be from when I gave Moka-san some of my blood earlier."

"You what!? And she just… But Tsukune-kun, I thought she was trying to kill you, why why why would you let her get so close to you to bite you?"

I'm going to kill that bitch. How dare she suck on Tsukune-kun? He was so sweet, and she just sank her teeth into him.

"Calm down Kurumu-chan. She was just really sick this morning. I offered to give her some blood today so that she could attend class. I'm also sure she doesn't want to kill me anymore. But I will say, she was the reason why I was thinking about eating that student."

I don't believe how nice this guy is. Is he literally a saint? I still felt relieved though. I thought that something bad had happen to him without him knowing.

"Your too naïve sometimes Tsukune-kun. I was afraid that you had gotten into some trouble again. I was afraid that some weird woman had charmed you."

"I'm sorry for worrying you Kurumu-chan," he said with his head lowered to me.

This boy really knew how to pull at my emotions even if he wasn't trying. But after thinking about what I had said earlier about charms, I remembered something important.

"It's okay Tsukune-kun, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about."

His head perked up at this.

"Remember how in my introduction I used my charm ability?"

He nodded.

"How were you able to break free from it? You shouldn't have been able to resist looking at me for at least a couple of days, even if you only got a short glimpse of it."

He was now stroking his chin as he was trying to figure out why that was so. He was furrowing his brow as his thought processes obviously became more focused as he tried to answer.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. I only felt a bit light headed from it. Maybe it was just because I had such a close encounter with a vampire on the first day that I was a bit more wary of things. After all a charm does weaken when its secrets are known."

"Well I guess that makes sense. When you are about to die, you would be more concerned about surviving. Though you could have an immunity to charms since you only felt light headed, and that was before Akashiya-san showed up."

"Eh, people can have a natural immunity? I didn't know that."

"People don't really have natural immunity Tsukune-kun. You are more likely to have gotten it boosted from an extreme exposure to something similar in the past."

"I see. Oh, speaking of charms Kurumu-chan, why did you need to use it on the class yesterday?"

His question hurt slightly. I knew he meant nothing mean behind it, but I couldn't see my actions gaining any favors with him. I started to lean on his shoulder before talking.

"Tsukune-kun, I'm a succubus. It's what we do. I just felt it was necessary and easier to accomplish what I need to do if I had done so."

I had a sad look on my face, but I turned it away from his eyes so that he couldn't see them. I continued to talk because I knew he wouldn't leave it at that. He would ask me what I had to do because he didn't understand, but wanted to. Tsukune-kun just cared too much to let it drop.

"My people are dying out Tsukune-kun. We need to find an appropriate mate to have children with. A succubus can only have children with a person that they truly deem worthy of mating with since we need our daughters to be strong. In order to do this, we rake through many men and enslave them. We do this to find our destined one. I had to do it for the sake of my people."

"I don't think you will find him that way."

I looked up to see the boy looking at me seriously with a touch of sadness in those brown eyes. He continued to talk.

"How can you know if someone is worthy of you if they can't prove it Kurumu-chan? To you everyone would be the same mindless drone. You should look for your destined one by getting to know people. That way you can also find out if you truly love him."

He is just too innocent sometimes. The boy doesn't seem to understand how unnatural it was for a monster of lust to do something like that. Tsukune-kun doesn't see me as a succubus. He saw me as a normal girl. His eyes made my heart beat faster. I think he might be my destined one if he could make me feel this way. But it seems he only sees me as his precious friend right now. I know he may act nervous and blush around me, but I am sure it's because he is still innocent. I can't use my charm on him for several reasons, but I didn't want to anyways because I liked him for how he was now. I still wanted to know how he felt about me.

"Hey Tsu…"

"Sorry to break up this intimate moment, but are you the rumored human on campus?"

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations. Also I'm really surprised there have not been any real indications of dislikes yet. It makes me happy to think I'm great at writing, but I know I'm not that much of a writer. Anyways, if you do dislike something about the style or grammar don't be afraid to say so.

#2: To answer a review about whether this would turn into a harem fanfiction or not, I don't think it will be.

#3: As for Moka, I am still deciding how her role will play in the rest of the story. I have a lot of ideas that sounds really good in my head, but I tend to write as I go along so some of those ideas can't be used after a few chapters.

#4: Tsukune will meet his rescuer in later chapters. I did mention her because I do plan on going into more detail on it and not just explain why he believed in monsters. In fact a lot of little details in these first few chapters will actually build up into chapters later on.

#5: A chabudai is one of those low tables you often see in the anime. A kotatsu is similar to it, but has a blanket and a heat source at the bottom.

#6: A rokurokubi is a long necked humanoid demon. They tend to be very timid and do wish to live their life with the humans. The neck usually can only extend at night. Rokurokubis tend to be female, but there are rare male ones.

#7: Ittekimasu and itterasshai essentially mean I'm off and the acknowledgement. These phrases tend to be more important in the culture so I decided to keep them there for the sake of the story.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

The Tyrant

Tsukune's Perspective

"Sorry to break up this intimate moment, but are you the rumored human on campus?"

A tall student had interrupted my conversation with Kurumu-chan. He had a red headband, which was pulling up his hair to reveal his forehead. The student wore a silver ornament in the shape of a wolf's head, and he held a camera and notepad.

"That depends. Are you a reporter or are you with the PSC?"

I asked him this cautiously. My experience with students asking about my human identity has been less than admirable. The student made a painful face. He must have had a bad history with the PSC. It wasn't hard to believe since I was just about to be interrogated. They had even threatened to use force if they needed to.

"I'm Morioka Ginei. But call me Gin. I'm a second year student and president of the newspaper club. Would you mind me asking for an interview?"

I honestly did not mind him interrupting my conversation. Gin-senpai actually helped me get out of a situation that I realized was going to end badly no matter what I could have done. Kurumu-chan was still leaning on my arm. She was going to ask or say something to me before Gin-senpai came in. My friend was going to ask if I would be her destined one.

I didn't want to see her face when I would have to reject her feelings. She needed to find someone for her species that was strong. Kurumu-chan needed to mate with someone strong enough for her children grow up healthy. My friend needed someone that could do that and still make her happy. I'm just a human. There is no way I was strong enough to do all that for her. She didn't even know I was human. My first friend still thought I was a strong monster. Kurumu-chan needed to find a better guy not only for her species, but also for herself. I didn't want to think about how tragic our relationship would be if the conversation had continued for even a few more moments.

"I don't mind Gin-senpai, but why are you interviewing me anyways?"

"Haha… Oh you were serious? Come on man how can I not interview you? In the first two days you have already become a celebrity on campus. You may have only done a few things, but no one was ever stupid enough or smart enough to pull them off before. On your first day you declared that you were human and then scared off a vampire a few moments afterwards. I'm already hearing rumors about how you protected another student and knocked out that trouble making first year. I'm just here to see if it was all true and to get your opinion on it."

It seems rumors really do spread like a wildfire.

"Well all of those rumors are true. They are surprisingly very accurate as well. I'm just glad the rumors haven't gotten too drastic yet."

Kurumu-chan nodded her head. She then started to comment in a somewhat boastful tone.

"Tsukune-kun is just that great. He doesn't let fear stop him. He is honest and must have considerable strength if he can scare off that vampire. Tsukune-kun must be a really amazing monster if he isn't afraid of the PSC."

I bit my lip. Kurumu-chan was proud of being my friend, but she still held to the belief that I was a monster. I know she was just praising me. It still hurt me to hear that one of the reason she was my friend was because of a misunderstanding. She might have been following me because she needed the power I didn't really have.

"The PSC?"

Gin-senpai was now looking at me questioningly, trying to get an idea of what I had done. His expression soon became one of disbelief when he realized what I had exactly done.

"I just figured that the rumors were exaggerated and that your class just decided to put up a show. Vampires aren't exactly well liked anywhere. I see now that that isn't the case. You are the real deal. But you're an idiot for challenging the PSC to begin with. You are taking on a fight that is far worse than what you have bargained for."

Wait, why were these two giving me looks as though I had just did something more dangerous than getting on Moka's bad side? I knew it wasn't a good idea to piss off the PSC simply because they are there to enforce the rules. It was also easy to tell that they had to be strong in order to control the student body. That was when I realized I had actually picked a fight with a monster that was likely in the S-rank level and several A-rank monsters as well. I just pissed off someone who was very likely to have the strength and pride of a vampire and wasn't restricted to the rules to use his powers.

I just slapped my head in disbelief. Kurumu-chan didn't seem to notice, but Gin-senpai noticed this and gave me a look of pity. He knew that I really didn't know what I had gotten into during my little morning fit.

"Well… I wish ya good luck, though I know you probably need more than luck at this point. I'll be sure to put give you a front-page obituary in the next newspaper. If you manage to survive until the end of the assessment exams, be sure to check the club out."

Gin-senpai was getting up to leave looking at me with sad eyes.

"Wait I thought you wanted an interview?"

"I wanted to interview a person who wasn't going to die before the story could be released. It's pointless to praise a dead man."

He just left the table with his head lowered and waved the back of his hand at me. My situation must have sparked a memory he had not wanted to remember.

The bell rang and we all returned to class. I had to figure out how I would be able to stop the PSC during the class time if I wanted to survive another day. I can't believe I managed to anger a second S-rank monster on my second day here. I hope this doesn't become a habit or I may have to fight all of these legendary monsters in this school.

During class I began reading the rulebook for the academy. I was desperately searching for information that could get me out of the situation. Knowing my luck, the situation would be worse now since they would probably have more accusation based on the rumors and morning incident. I began to research rules on what was allowed in terms of fighting. I didn't bother looking up what happened when you resisted a PSC member since I knew that going against the PSC would normally mean going against the peace of the school. I'll just have to word the incident very carefully. The one thing I was looking for was the rule on humans. It was the one rule that would save me and I couldn't find it anywhere. It might have been out of sheer stress, but I just couldn't find it in the massive handbook we were given.

Kuyou's Perspective

I found myself walking down the hall of the first year classes. The bell rang. Classes had just ended. Why do I have to go and exterminate this pest myself? I need to pick out my staff with more scrutiny. Those first years that I had sent failed miserably. What is even more despicable was that they back down to a student claiming that he was human. They even outnumbered him four to one. These freshmen are just so pathetic. It makes me sick to think that we had allowed such disgraces into our ranks. They even risked tarnishing our name with their weakness. It was quite refreshing to hear them beg for mercy as I slowly roasted them. Though it is troubling as to how it has become necessary for me to step in. This human was already gaining a massive reputation behind him. Even if he wasn't a human as he claims, I cannot allow such a risky creature to challenge my authority. Ah we're here.

"Open the door Keito."

"Yes Kuyou-sama."

My second in command swiftly slid the door open for me. I walked in to look for this human that everyone had been talking about. The three other A-class monsters that had been accompanying me walked in after me. I saw several students and Nekonome-sensei look at me with a mix of fear and disgust. There was one student who wore a brown jacket and was staring out through the window.

"Aono Tsukune the Public Safety Committee has deemed you a threat to the safety of the school you will follow us to be interrogated. You cannot get away this time."

I saw the student in the brown jacket look at me calmly. I didn't sense any power coming from him. His eyes looked very bloodshot. This is the guy who disgraced my committee?

"Are you Kuyou-san?"

This student had courage. I will not stand for his impudence.

"Yes, now that I am here you have no choice but to do as I say."

"What happened to the four you sent earlier?"

I smirked. He seemed to be showing sympathy for those weaklings. I guess birds of a feather do really flock together. I wanted to torment him for his actions now.

"They had failed their duties so I decided to slowly roast them. I can still hear their cries for mercy as their flesh burned away in my office. Now I suggest that you do as I say before I decided to just do the same to you as I had done to them."

He sighed. The student then turned his head back towards the window. I can't tell if he was just brushing me off or if he was realizing his fate.

"Can't you just do the interrogation here? It's not like it matters where we do it anyways. The information gets around in this school very quickly anyways."

This insolent creature is defying my authority in front of the student body. I don't know whether to commend his bravery or burn him for his insolence.

"Don't test me you weakling. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt since you are a new student and I sent those four disgraces to collect you in the first place. Now follow me so that we may judge you."

"What are you afraid of Kuyou?"

This wretch! He was going against me despite my threats. I shot a small blast of flames towards his head.

_Fssshhh_

My flames never reached him. It appears that he had thrown one of the books he had on his desk to intercept the shot. The book was now burning on the ground. He was now looking at me with eyes full of disgust. His tone was now sarcastic and mocking.

"Are you afraid that you can't stick the charges on me if I don't do it in your court? Are you not able to force me to admit your charges if you can't force me to do what you want?"

This cheeky little brat knew what he was doing. He was turning my charges into a public scene. His open challenge was forcing me to accept or suffer humiliation. I'll humor him. I crush him in front of all of his classmates. I'll turn his challenges into a public execution.

"Fine! If you wish to die in front of all of your classmates I will grant you that much. At least you won't be alone when you die."

I waved my subordinates to leave. I did not want the public to see us as something so weak that we needed so many to interrogate one person. I do not wish to have an entire class start rebelling. Only Keito stayed to witness what was to be said.

"Keito. Please state the charges."

"Yes, Kuyou-sama. Aono Tsukune, you are under suspicion of being a human, harming a fellow classmate, and resisting the PSC. Tell us your side of the story so that we may properly decide your fate."

"We all know those charges are bogus. None of them can stick in the first place," the student said.

His impudence is quite intriguing. It made me want to murder him on the spot, but it was interesting by what he meant by it.

"Oh? So can you explain how resisting a PSC officer is a bogus claim?"

"I didn't resist, they let me go. I merely said I was hungry and that I would eat them if they got in my way."

"You threatened my committee. You even challenged me by demanding I should confront you. That would cause unrest if the PSC couldn't meet the challenge."

"Hahahaha…"

He was laughing. The rest of the students were smiling. This insolent human was making a mockery out of me. I can't burn him right now. Just wait. I'll savor your death.

"I didn't threaten them. I may have been irritated, but I just warned them I was hungry enough that I might just take a bite out of them. I hadn't eaten all day and I would have eaten almost anything. As for this challenge you speak of, it wasn't a challenge. I specifically said that the accusations were too serious. I didn't feel that such accusations should be dealt with by people with a rank any less than the head of the PSC. Besides…"

His tone went from being lighthearted to serious in an instant.

"Doesn't it cause more unrest when the PSC waves around such a dangerous accusation? Isn't it more unjust and disrespectful for you to have to send your grunts instead of directly talking to me in the first place for a matter that could determine whether I live or die? I can't even take your accusation seriously if you, the one with the most power, could not come for me in the first place."

The class was starting to smirk at me. I quickly gave them all a glare and most of them turned away. Only three girls had not averted their eyes.

"Do you have any witnesses? It seems oddly convenient that you were able to get pass four PSC members without using some physical violence?"

To my surprise half the class raised their hands despite the obvious fear I was feeling from them. It seems that this student has really won over the support of many of his classmates in one day. Not wanting to lower my image to appear petty I consented on this charge.

"Fine. We will simply say that this matter was a misunderstanding. But next time you will obey the committee. We do take the fact that you did not consent to our orders as a threat. But you still have to tell me why you thought it was a good idea to smash your classmate's head into the ground."

"First off, I just tripped him and he knocked himself unconscious. Second the other student attacked me. Third that 'fight' was not even against the rules here. If I recall, the rules on fights only exists for when race is involved. There is no rule prohibiting fights among students so long as the fight wasn't about how one race is better than another. The only other rule about fights was that you can't kill five or more students and students may never kill teachers. What I did at most was just participate in a small squabble."

I couldn't say that he was wrong, and I could feel that he had something else he wanted to say. Most students didn't even know their rights. For the most part, everyone just assumes that fights were not allowed and we had just simply overlooked many. If we came for the students they usually just resigned. Most fights were about race so we never had problems in catching them before. Most of the staff even let our liberal interpretations of the rule slide because most of the students were disturbing the peace and were just nuisances.

I shouldn't have let him had this opportunity. It would have been better to have appeared as a coward or cheap even for a moment. A lot of the monsters believed he was a SS-rank monster anyways. Now he was just giving reasons not be obey me to the other students. This was the one outcome I did not wish to occur. Yet his fighting was exhilarating. I could feel my urge to hunt him down grow as we continued. He resumed speaking as my thoughts snapped back from thinking about how to best destroy him.

"I don't understand why you would have even tried to accuse me of wrongdoing when I haven't even violated any rules concerning it. In fact I believe you should watch where you stand Kuyou. As I recall you confessed to murdering four students in cold blood because they couldn't do their duties. You shouldn't do that considering that the rules do limit murder to five students or one teacher."

"Unlike you, I have the ability to execute students that become too much of a problem for the school. I am not restricted by this rule. I am even allowed to dispose of teachers that have strayed too far from their professional path."

I gave Nekonome-sensei I look. She was frightened by the look and for good reason. I do so rejoice when remembering the extermination of her club. I can still remember their curses and attempts to flee. It was even more satisfying when I had let that one S-rank monster to survive. He showed such magnificent despair when he learned that he was the cause of the club's demise.

The boy started to talk once more, except his tone had shifted once more. It was a voice of disappointment. He was looking down on me now.

"Tsk, tsk. Kuyou, you are not above the rules. There are exceptions granted to your position, but all of those exceptions are listed in the rules as well. You misinterpreted the clause about how you make the executions. You are only allowed to make public executions to set an example to the students. What you did was murder. No one outside of your committee could have seen your execution since you burned them in your office. These executions of yours cannot be claimed public since only you and the committee could see them. What's more, because their charges were based on incompetence than actually disobedience, you had no valid reason to kill them. To sum up, you are down to your last life to take. It would not do well for the head of the Public Safety Committee to break such an important rule."

It was at this point all of the students who had once feared me were now gaining the courage. They were cheering this student on. This class is full of cowards. They only speak up once they believe that I can't do anything. I should have just come after him myself had I known the repercussions ahead of time.

Despite the fact I was now fighting an uphill battle, I knew I would still win this fight. I knew I would win this fight because of one underlying fact. I may have lost a good deal of the respect my position had held, but it would make torturing the boy all so much sweeter. It didn't even matter since his death will restore it. I may even gain more fear for toying with the boy for so long. His despair will become so much greater from his failure after he had come so close to success.

"Okay, you know your rules and rights very well. It seems that these charges placed on you have been placed on misguided information from my underlings. I will punish them severely for their failures. However, you must know that there is one accusation here that you cannot overlook."

He grimaced. The boy knew what was coming, and he knew know how much he struggle or squirmed, he wasn't going to get away with it.

"Are you really a human?"

Regardless of his answer, he would be breaking the rule. He can't be a human and he can't reveal his identity. He can't even refuse to answer because he would be resisting the PSC that gave him after we strictly warned him that resistance would be deemed as a threat. He must also know that no matter how much public support he got, I can just make it a public execution and he will lose everything. I could see the resignation in his face as he realized that his time has come. This student, though a thorn in my side, was commendable. I was beginning to wonder how interesting it would have been if I had him in my ranks regardless of his identity. He had struggled quite admirably. It's a shame he decided to go against me.

He stood up and walked to me. It seems he wished to die standing.

"I'm a human. I have said it before and I will say it again. I'm a human and nothing you could say or offer will ever change my answer."

I wanted to torture him just a bit longer. I wanted him to break down right here in front of the class. I wanted the image that everyone in this room had come to follow crumble so that none would stand up to me again. I wanted the fear to be stuffed back into their simple minds.

I would still enjoy burning him to ashes even if he refused to fold. It would be quite delicious to send the message that no one should challenge me. I can just see the spines that were growing in these students be broken to bits in an instant.

"Is that a confession? You doooo know that if it were I would have to publicly execute you right now."

His body tensed up. Will you cave in? Your loss would be so sweet if you caved in. I know you want to live.

"I said I was a human Kuyou."

He stared defiantly into my eyes. I will still enjoy this.

"Does anyone here have any last words to say to this human? Speak now for it will be the last you can speak to him."

Everyone was staring horrified at what was going to happen. They were going to witness the painful and excruciating death of someone they had thought was great. Their respected leader would be no more. The human was now looking despondently at the floor. I've won. I don't remember having this much pleasure from a public execution. It was worth coming down here to crush this insect. No, I was crushing more than an insect. I was crushing any chance of an insurrection from these pathetic creatures.

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.

#2: Because I know everyone wanted to see this chapter really badly, I wrote it down today. It may be shorter compared to the others, but I hope you did enjoy it.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Reversal

Tsukune's Perspective

I guess this is where it all ends huh. I didn't even last a week. At least I know I got to live in the world I had wished to live in. I even gave it a good run considering how I was now facing my second S-rank monster. As I contemplated my end I began to think about all of the things I was leaving behind. I was leaving behind my family. I betrayed the work that my savior had done. I was leaving behind my new friends. Kurumu-chan, Mizore-san I'm sorry. Moka-san, I'm sorry I couldn't convince you that humans weren't all bad.

I can't die yet. If it were anytime before I got here it wouldn't have mattered as much. I can't leave things as they are. If I were to die now it would be as though I were spitting on my friends' trust. It would be too pathetic if I were to just give up.

I looked at my smiling executioner and saw he was starting to build up a blaze in his hand as he got ready to strike. I started to smile back at death. My hand slid into my pocket to grab anything that I could use to get out of the situation.

"I'm a human."

"I'm a human."

"I'm a human."

Everyone whipped their heads to the back corner of the room. The three students had all said that they were human at the same time. The voices each had their own character too them. One sounded excited. Another sounded stoic. The third sounded indignant, but held a definitive tone. I saw Kurumu-chan, Mizore-san and Moka-san standing up to the Kuyou.

The class stood in awe for a second. It was strange enough that anyone was standing up to Kuyou after what was transpiring. Everyone was just dumbfounded that the vampire who had nearly crushed me for comparing her to a human was declaring that she was a human.

"I'm, I'm a human too!"

Another student was now going against Kuyou. Everyone was shocked, but they were now starting to follow suit.

"Me too!"

"So am I!"

The entire class was now claiming that we were all humans. I couldn't feel anything except for happiness. Everyone was sticking their neck out for me. With all of these claims, even Kuyou wouldn't be able to execute everyone. The very nature of the idea would be a scandal. Even if this school was more lenient on death and his position, even he would be unable to get away with killing so many students.

"Silence! So what if you all claim that you are a human!? The person himself admitted that he was a human! What does it matter if you all claim to be human?! It gives me more reason to kill him now since he has got you all signing your death warrants with those claims! You can all have your little celebration to ease his death, but the fact remains that he will die right here and right now! I don't understand why you don't see the fact that he is resisting the PSC by refusing to tell us he is a monster!"

Everyone who had been cheering me on had now gone silent as we all realized that Kuyou could still execute me under the pretense I was going to incite a panic and resisting the PSC.

"So what Kuyou? So what if he says he is human?"

The voice emanated from Moka-san and was brimming with confidence. She was starting to walk towards me and Kuyou as she continued to talk.

"He is just saying that he is human. He is just following the rules. He is not revealing his identity to the other students. Tsukune is acting as the model student at this academy by hiding his monster identity. You cannot publicly execute him under the pretense that he is resisting the PSC nor can you execute him for causing a panic. Had he revealed his monster identity, you would have been able to publicly execute him, but because he is acting out as a model student, your message would say 'Do not be a model student. Do not follow the rules.' Though it would still be a message to the students, that message would not give you the right to execute him. He is acting as an example to the other students to follow the rules by claiming to be human. By killing him you yourself would be breaking several rules. You would go over your death limit and be starting a fight based on race. You cannot kill him."

Kuyou was now scowling because he must have known that an S-rank monster was now challenging him. He must have also known that her interference would just spell trouble.

"Even if that is the case, we cannot overlook the fact that he may actually be a human. You know that having a human here would just cause trouble."

Thank you Moka-san. Thank you for standing up for me even though we were on such bad terms earlier. But if I can't survive this fight on my own then it would just prove that monsters and humans just can't get along. If I couldn't get through this one obstacle, it would mean that humans and monsters would never get along because the humans would always be scared. The humans would always be scared of the monsters that could terrorize them. The monsters with power would also feel it natural to pick on humans. I had to remove Kuyou from his position for the future I wished to see. I stepped back into the conversation.

"Kuyou you can't win this argument at this point. If you truly wish to kill me still, I will allow you to hit me with everything you got in one strike. I only ask that we keep the fight limited to our human forms. Meet me at the front gate so that we don't damage the school in the process. You have one hour."

It seems that nobody could understand what I was doing. They were all risking themselves to save me and I had just taunted my executioner. I just walked out the door to head to where I hoped that I wouldn't die. I walked to where I believed I had to test whether or not humans could truly coexist and survive with monsters.

Kuyou's Perspective

I see, this boy must have gotten full of himself. He had the support of everyone and an S-rank monster. I'll just have to burst his bubble and make everyone realize that they followed a fool.

Moka's Perspective

What does this human plan to do? Hey may know some basic fighting techniques and knew how to use his wit, but neither would be able to help him. Those tricks would only help him up to C-rank monsters in a fight. Why is he leaving the field where he has the most advantage over his opponent?

Many of the students were now flooding out to see the spectacle.

Kurumu's Perspective

"What do you think you are doing?!"

I had finally caught up with Tsukune-kun. This boy was going to win against the PSC without having to fight before. Why was he doing this? It didn't even look like he was going to fight back when he issued the challenge. Was he just trying to look cool without thinking about the consequences, or was he really not afraid of Kuyou?

"Kurumu-chan, I can't let such a guy keep doing as he pleases. If I just let him stay where he is then many more students will be put into harm's way. I couldn't bear the thought of letting all of the people suffer around me when I could do something about it."

"But you could die Tsukune-kun. I know you are not as strong as people think you are. I know you. You are too gentle to really have that much strength. You are smart and you might be strong, but after today in class I can see your limitations. I can now see that you don't have the strength to fight off or truly scare an S-rank monster like Kuyou! You could have just stayed in the classroom and won! I don't want you to die for something so stupid! Please don't fight him Tsukune-kun! Just run away! It's better if you just run away so that I will at least know that you are okay!"

I was crying at this point. I really didn't want him to die. He was the only guy I had found who didn't just stare at my body out of lust. He actually cared about me. Tsukune-kun actually cared about why I did things.

He began wiping my tears.

"I'm not going to die Kurumu-chan. You'll see. I'm not going to run away either. I will come be back tomorrow and the day after. I'm not going to let my own fear of death stop me from coming back here."

"Bu-but why do you have to go through with this?"

He smiled sadly at me and spoke softly.

"I need to do this to prove something for myself. I need to do this to protect the people around me. I need to do this because no one else will. I need to do this because I just need to. I'll be back so just wait for me."

He started to walk away. I'll be waiting so don't die on me.

Mizore's Perspective

I saw him leave the blue haired girl behind. Was she his girlfriend? They did have lunch together and she seemed intimate. I felt sad at how it seems he was taken after all. I still need to talk to him. I don't want him to die today. I walked up behind him.

"So have you said goodbye to your girlfriend?"

Tsukune jumped at my sudden appearance. He looked behind and gave a sigh of relief. It seems he was still scared of what was to come.

"Mizore-san, she isn't my girlfriend. She just really cares about me as her friend."

I gave him a stare wondering if he was just dense or didn't want to admit he had found someone. It seems it made him uncomfortable.

"At least I think she just sees me as a friend. I'm sort of getting mixed signals. Even if she cared for me in that way I wouldn't be able to accept her feelings. You know why too."

"I would have figured she would have known. But I can see that you aren't together if that is the case. Still… what do you plan on doing to survive. You are a human and he is an S-class monster. The gap is quite big."

"Wait? You are not going to say I'm a fool for doing this?"

He was staring at me in surprise. I just put my head on his side as we got closer to the exit.

"I know you Tsukune. You are weak, but you don't need strength. That's all I need to know that you can win. I am just worried that your plan might not be as good as I think it is."

I wanted to stay by his side until we got to the gate, but he moved his arm. I was disappointed that I couldn't feel his warmth anymore.

I felt something heavy be placed on me. Looking at what it was I noticed that it was a brown jacket. He was trying to assure me that things would be fine. I looked up to his eyes and saw that he was looking straight in to mine. I couldn't help but blush as he began to speak.

"Can you hold that for me? I'll get through this fight too. I did come here knowing full well that my life would be a struggle from the get go. If I were to die now that would be too pathetic. So just watch. I'll be back."

We were now outside, and he walked to his battlefield. I could only stay back and watch his back from a distance.

I whispered, "I know," as I began to tighten up in his jacket. It had his warmth on it still.

The students were now gathering to see how Tsukune would take on Kuyou.

Mikogami's Perspective

My, my Aono-kun. I heard about what you are doing from the many whispers of the students. It was one thing to survive an encounter with a vampire, but to engage a fight with a creature of equal ferocity is far more dangerous. You are even making it so that everyone at this school will know about what you are doing. What will you do to exceed my expectations? It seems you have even attracted the attention of my former test subject.

Gin's Perspective

What is that idiot thinking? Is he actually having a duel with **him** of all people? I knew he was going to die, but what point is there to make such a spectacle out of yourself? Everyone knows what Kuyou does and still turns a blind eye. The last time I stood up to him was the dumbest mistake of my life. He doesn't let anything stop him from getting what he wants. You dying here and now won't do anything.

Keito's Perspective

This boy was a fool. There is no one at this school that can match up to Kuyou-sama. He is the head of the PSC for a reason. Looking around I see the entire student body and staff watching. Everyone was here to see the pathetic weakling stand up to our leader. Many of the freshmen seemed to be rooting for the boy, but that will soon turn to despair. It will be so great to have the new class become so docile in just two days.

"Attention to everyone. We are here pass judgment on Aono Tsukune for the crime of being a human. If he should survive one hit from our leader, then he will be allowed to live. Should he fail, then he shall burn to ashes."

Kuyou-sama was now walking to the student out in the field. I could feel his confidence and the heat of his power radiate from his body. He was now standing a few yards from the freshman.

Tsukune's Perspective

It is now or never. Kuyou was standing several yards in front of me.

I yelled, "So you decided to show up."

"I have to commend you human. Though you have been an annoyance, you have quite the amount of courage. I will grant you a reward for getting here. What should I remember you by every time I get to think about your death?"

"Is there no way to possibly end this peacefully?"

"No, you sealed your fate when you came to this school and declared that you were a human. It was sealed the moment you went against me."

I called out confidently, "Well then, remember me as Tsukune the human! Remember me as the guy who is going to show you your place!"

He smirked at how ridiculous the idea sounded to him.

"Oh I know my place, but I will show you yours! I show you to your grave! If you really are a monster then pray! Pray to whatever god to you believe in that you will survive this!"

My hands brushed several things that I had in my pocket as I saw the air right above the palm of his hand becoming a blazing inferno. The massive ball of fire was growing and the heat was quite overwhelming from where I stood. The flames soon started compressing itself into a small concentrated ball. He smiled as he fired the ball straight at me.

I had to time this perfectly or I was going to die. I lifted my arms out of my pocket and readied myself. I gripped my fists. It was all or nothing. I chuckled at the fact that I really had no idea what would happen.

The fireball was here. I didn't feel the heat since it was still trailing the actual attack. It threw my left arm at the attack and crushed what I had in my fist.

Kuyou's Perspective

_BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM_

There was a satisfying explosion as my flames released my hellfire onto Tsukune. I felt the hot air blow past me from the impact. I couldn't see him since a lot of dust had flown up from the ground. He just simply ran into it. There is no way he could have survived. I could even faintly smell burnt flesh. It was over. I have other things to do so I turned to start walking to headquarters to file the report.

"HOT! HOT! HOT!"

I snapped my head back. The dust was clearing and there he was still standing. He was stamping the fire out of his burning shirt on the ground. The ground was only burnt in front of him and then diverged to his sides. The ground behind him was completely clear of black marks. The only evident injuries he had was his darkened left arm which was bleeding from his fist. It also hung loosely to his side.

The students were screaming at the sides in amazement at what they had just witnessed. A freshman had just taken on one of the strongest, if not the strongest, monsters on campus and survived a direct hit. What's more astonishing was that he was still in almost perfect condition.

"How did you survive?! Even if I was in my human form, that attack should have reduced you to ashes in a second."

The student had stopped trying to save his shirt. He was smirking at me and scratching the back of his head with his remaining arm.

"Simple, I used ice potions from the convenience store since I knew you would use a fire attack."

I was angry now. I started to yell at him.

"Don't kid me. Those potions are only meant to make ice in your drinks. Are you telling me that I'm weaker than those small potions?"

"Well you were limited to your human form and I crushed three vials. I knew that the vials held much more than the actual volume and was hoping that I had just the right amount to stop that attack. Too much and I could have froze to death. Too few and I could have burned to death."

"Why would they sell something that dangerous at this school?"

"Because no one is stupid enough to actually break the glass. Though I think the potions were probably made so that even if it did it wouldn't affect our vital systems too badly."

I had lost to this human and in public too. The fact that he had used such a stupid tactic was even more infuriating. He started to speak to me in a dark threatening tone now. He was also giving me a sadistic grin.

"It's not over yet Kuyou. I did say that I would show you your place."

His comment made me back away for a moment. Knowing his nature to turn the tables, I could feel that this would be more than just bad. I didn't even really care at how everyone saw me back away because I already knew that he was going to make my reputation drop anyways.

He directed his right arm to the crowd as if he were pointing to someone. He began to yell at the top of his lungs to call this person out.

"CHAIRMAN-SAN!

I WISH TO DISQUALIFY KUYOU FROM HIS POSITION AS HEAD OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE AS WELL AS THE ENTIRE COMMITTEE!

KUYOU HAS VIOLATED A NUMBER OF RULES DURING HIS RULE!

HE HAS VIOLATED THE RULE TO NOT START FIGHTS OVER RACE WHEN HE CONSENTED TO FIGHT ME THINKING I WAS A HUMAN!

HE HAS CONFESSED TO MURDERING FOUR OF HIS SUBORDINATES AND HAS LIKELY DONE MORE THAN THAT!

HE HAS BEEN INCITING PANIC AMONG THE STUDENTS BY ACCUSING PEOPLE OF BEING HUMANS WITHOUT JUSTIFIABLE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT HIS CLAIMS!

HE HAS ATTACKED A STUDENT WHO HAS BEEN FOLLOWING THE RULES FROM THE START!

HE IS NOT DOING HIS JOB TO PROTECT THE STUDENT BODY, BUT HAS INSTEAD BEEN ATTACKING THEM!

HE IS NOT FIT FOR THIS POSITION!

I ALSO CLAIM THAT HIS SUBORDINATES ARE NOT UP TO THE TASK SINCE THEY FOLLOWED HIM AND TURNED A BLIND EYE TO HIS ACTIONS!"

He planned all of this. He knew that if he made it into a big enough spectacle that the Dark Lord would have to show up. This student was going to be my undoing? I am going to kill him if he intends to bring me down. I am going to kill Tsukune if he was going to bring me down.

I threw enough shot of fire at him. He didn't have enough time to turn around completely. My flames never touched him. It was waved away by a man that had just appeared in between us. The man had a wide devilish grin on his face and his yellow glowing eyes shown through the shadow hiding half his face.

Mikogami's Perspective

"Very well Aono-kun. I have heard your claims! I only have to ask if you have witnesses so I know that these accusations were not made out of spite."

"Yes I do. I had him interrogate me in my classroom. Everyone in the class can vouch my words," Aono-kun declared.

Kuyou widened his eyes as he realized that he had just signed his resignation by wishing to torment my toy.

"Hahahaha, very well. I have heard your claims, you have witnesses and I have seen Kuyou-kun try to silence you. We will have a serious reevaluation of the entire committee. I will institute a substitute enforcement group from outside to replace our committee during this time."

I created a seal that levitated Kuyou and held him in place.

You never do cease to amaze me Aono-kun. I honestly thought you would have tried to talk your way out of this situation. I can hardly believe that you are human after enduring that strike.

"Out of curiosity how did you survive that attack?"

Using his good arm, he pulled out a small vial from his pocket. It was the ice potions that we sold at the convenience store. It was quite clever, but seemed to not have been well thought out. I could only grin at this boy's ability to survive and quick thinking. He was everything I could have hoped for and more. He was surviving and gathering followers as a human. He has even managed to use me to help him in his time of need without violating his contract.

"How is the arm Aono-kun?"

"I don't think I can use it anymore unless you have some convenient magic to heal it."

"I do have methods would you like me to use them?"

He was pondering a second before he replied, "No, I'll keep it as it is as a souvenir. I'll find my own way to get it healed."

This is quite bizarre. He had sacrificed his arm and wasn't going to take it back. I guess he is even more sentimental that I thought he was. He was willing to reduce his chance of survival for the sake of remembering what he had gone through.

"Aono-kun do you have any regrets so far?"

He smiled at my question.

"No, even though it has only been two days I have gone through quite a lot. Some happy and some painful, but I will never regret coming here. I was willing to pay any price to get here remember?"

I look forward to how he will fair in the future. If things continued as they have so far, his three years might only be a few weeks. But at least these next few weeks will be interesting beyond reason.

"Kuyou-kun, is there something you wish to say to Aono-kun before we proceed with your reevaluation and punishments?"

"Tsukune, what are you?"

My test subject soon started laughing. After his fit, he yelled his response.

"I'M HUMAN AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!"

The spectators were now breaking out into cheers.

I was right to pick you Aono Tsukune. You are quite the sturdy bridge for monsters and humans.

Kurumu's Perspective

He really did it. He was really going to come back. I didn't have to lose someone who was so kind and caring. I cried. They were tears of happiness to know that he would still be here. I cried because I knew that he could still be by my side. It was a relief to know that I would be able to spend my days at this school with Tsukune-kun.

Mizore's Perspective

I always knew you would win. You never seemed like a guy that ever went against your word. I held the jacket closer to me the more I thought about Tsukune. I didn't have to worry about losing him if he could survive this. He wouldn't be like the last boy I wanted to be with. He wouldn't be so fragile. I want Tsukune to be with me.

I saw Tsukune start walking to the infirmary. The pink haired vampire ran up to help him walk. It seems that he was still badly hurt.

Moka's Perspective

"What were you thinking?"

I was trying to reprimand him, but my voice sounded too content to be harsh. He laughed weakly as he gave me a smile from being glad that he was still just alive. We were walking to the infirmary in silence. It's funny to think that Tsukune had done this for me this morning.

"Thank you for helping me in the classroom Moka-san. It made me really happy to know that you wouldn't just let me get killed by Kuyou."

"Don't flatter yourself. I just didn't want my new meal ticket to die on me."

I said this with a small smirk on my face. Although I had said that, his honest gratitude felt nice to hear. He laughed again as we made it to the infirmary. Walking in we noticed that his jacket was neatly folded on one of the beds.

Keito's Perspective

Aono, I will make your life miserable. There will never be a moment at this school when you can feel comfortable. I will avenge Kuyou-sama. Now let's see where to start. Maybe I should start by looking for others to do my dirty work since I can't lay a finger on you yet.

?'s Perspective

"This is quite an interesting turn of events."

"Yes it is. He did us a large favor by getting that damn fox out of the way."

"Do you think he will be of use to us?"

"Leave him be for now. We will find out whether or not he will be our ally or not."

"He probably will since he doesn't seem to have a good reputation among the elites at this school."

"In any case, if he gets involved this year may prove more interesting."

"Do you think he is actually human?"

"I do not know. It does not matter if he can achieve feats of this level."

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.

#2: So for the whole section of Tsukune's public declarations, I don't actually know if this was proper format grammar wise. I just spaced each sentence to make it look more dramatic and more readable. I swear when I was looking at it the first time it actually hurt my head trying to read.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Tsukune's Perspective

"Aono-kun, we need to get that checked immediately. Uhm, let's check out the bleeding first."

A nurse in a white coat had rushed towards me the moment Moka-san and I had stepped through the door. She was the nurse from this morning and was now fretting over my injury. It seems that after my fight she had rushed here to prep the room since she was sweating.

My left arm was still hanging lifelessly to my side. It was burnt badly and bleeding profusely. I couldn't even move it. If it weren't for the sharp stings I was feeling, I would have considered that my arm was truly gone.

Moka-san, who had helped me get from the front gate to here, directed me to a bed next to us. She gave me a pat on my right shoulder and showed me a small smile.

"I'll be going now. I don't want to end up losing my self-control from just smelling your blood. You definitely need it."

We both just gave a light laugh. I laughed because this was the girl who was so serious in murdering me earlier. She laughed because she was actually serious about drinking my blood.

She then turned around and proceeded to walk out the door. Before she had completely left the office, she stopped. She said something with her back still facing me.

"I'm glad you stood your ground to the end. There were times when you faltered, but you did follow through with your words."

"I told you before. I'll just keep walking forward. I'll keep finding the hopes in my life and protect them."

"Yeah you did."

Moka-san then walked through the door.

The nurse was now fussing over my arm. She had brought out a pair of tweezers and some gauze. She was carefully removing the glass shards from the cuts on my palm. Every time she pulled one out, I winced in pain from the sudden rush of air that now went into the open wound. Even though I winced, my arm was still unresponsive and didn't move.

"Geez Aono-kun. I'm glad that you didn't die today, but couldn't you have done it in a better way? Why did you have to go hurt yourself like that? Couldn't you have just talked some sense into Kuyou?"

I laughed sheepishly. I guess I really didn't have to get injured if I had decided not to act on my dreams.

"But sensei, everyone knows that Kuyou is not exactly a diplomatic individual. Besides, I couldn't just let him stay where he was. He would have continued to hurt and kill students for the sake of his ego and fun."

"Please Aono-kun. I already know that the class had sided with you during your interrogation. I also know that you decided to issue a challenge to that proud hothead."

Rumors do spread too quickly. Looks like whatever I do will attract the attention of the entire school.

"Do rumors really spread that quickly? How much do you know exactly?"

"They don't usually travel that quickly Aono-kun. You just tend to do things at a pace that drags the entire school along for the ride. By the way, I know that you managed to convince a lot of the freshmen students to claim to be humans. It seems many of them don't hate humans as much anymore. You have to tell us how you caused such a turnaround in the students' attitudes."

"But doesn't the staff here teach us to coexist with humans? I thought a change in attitude would be natural."

She just gave me a neutral look. It felt like she was saying that I was just plain dense for that comment.

"Aono-kun, this school has existed for quite a while. The students are stuck here for three years to learn how to coexist. Many of the students never have a change in opinion when it concerns humans. Most of the teachers here even hate the humans. A lot of us just hate humans because of the way we were brought up. Many even feel sore about the fact that humans rule the world. We are much stronger so many wonder why humans are in control. Many species are even getting closer and closer to extinction because it is so hard to hide from humans. Sure there are some who don't blame the humans, but more often than not monsters just want to see the humans extinct."

While she was saying this, she had a small sad look on her face. She was still removing the glass from my palm at a steady pace. She didn't seem to be angry with humans, but I wanted to know why she looked so sad.

"What do you think about humans?"

"I am one of the people who just don't care. I just find it sad that we are in a situation where people seem to only want one side or the other to disappear. I'm a nurse. I just want everyone to get along and help those in need."

I could see her look down at my palm sadly as she finished picking out the glass. I thought she was going to apply the gauze, but instead she placed her hand above my palm. Viscous liquid was soon dripping from her hand and covering the lacerations on my palm. The stinging from them soon stopped. I could still feel pain from it, but it no longer stung. In fact it felt quite warm as I could feel it healing my cuts. I resumed talking as she began to wrap my hands.

"Are you one of the species being pushed into extinction sensei?"

"Yes Aono-kun, but it's not because of going into hiding. It's because of the pollution that occurs. I'm a slime-type of monster and my kin need to live in an area with a certain level of clean water. I don't hate the humans for it because I know that they are making an effort to reduce it. But I will say that there are too many humans and they can't take care of all of the waste. If we didn't have to live in hiding, I'm sure we could have worked together to reduce the waste."

She was wrapping my hand gently at first. But as she was talking, her wrapping was getting tighter.

"Sensei, do you believe that monsters and humans can get along? Do you believe that there will ever be a time when the humans can find out about monsters and have neither side kill each other?"

She looked up at me when I had asked her this. She seemed legitimately surprised that a student was trying to seriously bridge the two worlds. She gave me a sad look.

"I don't think so Aono-kun. There is just too much hate from the monsters and the humans would be too scared not to attack. As things stand, revealing ourselves would definitely lead to a massive war. Only one side would come out the victor and the other side will either die out or become enslaved."

She had resumed her work and was now examining the rest of my arm. I continued to talk, although it seemed that she didn't want to continue talking anymore.

"Then I'll just change the world."

She snapped her head back up and stared at me with surprise. I continued to talk.

"I'll find a way to make coexistence possible. It is sad to have to choose to hide or fight. I believe that we can make a much better world if we could all get along."

She smiled at me.

"When I hear you say that Aono-kun, I feel that that future is an option. I do feel as though you can do what you say you will do."

I gave her a wide grin. It felt nice that there was someone who believed in the same thing I believed in. I was glad to have convinced her that there was hope. I confidently spoke to her once more.

"Of course sensei! It is my dream to live a world like that. I will do it because I believe that it is possible."

She giggled and gave me a warm look.

"We need to have more students like you Aono-kun. You are very convincing. I hope you keep following that dream of yours. I wish to see the world that you see. I'm sure that there are also many others who would wish to do the same."

She returned to her work as she was examining my left arm. She was using a strange tool that I had never seen before. The tool let out a mix of colors as she used it to sweep along my arm. Whatever it was reading, it did not look good from the way she frowned.

"Aono-kun I'm afraid I have some bad news for you."

"I can't use my left arm anymore right?"

She shook her head.

"It's bad, but it's not that bad yet. It looks like a lot of the nerves were damaged. The nerves in your arms must have been damaged from the extreme shifts in temperature or the simultaneous freezing and burning you went through. You can still use your arm at some point in the future, but the most you will be able to do with it is hold onto light objects and snap your fingers. You won't be able to swing it around freely, hold heavy objects with it, or grip with it. We don't have anything to make the situation better."

She was looking down and I could see that she felt useless since she couldn't help me. I just shook my head before replying.

"That's all? That's much more than what I hoped I could still do with it. I'm right handed anyways."

The nurse whipped her head back up. She spoke sharply at me now.

"Aono-kun this is your arm we are talking about! I just told you that your arm will never be able to recover to anywhere near how it was before! You shouldn't just dismiss your health like that! How can you just talk like that so easily?"

I just shrugged my right shoulder. It honestly didn't matter anymore since I had accepted it as a lost cause. I was actually really happy that she told me I would be able to use it for basic things at some point. We were also in a world I had yet to completely explore. I'm sure that there were ways to fix it anyways. I wasn't even too concerned about my health either since I was just glad to be alive. It's kind of funny how our priorities are so different. I was concerned about just surviving and she was concerned about my health. I'm glad she was the school's nurse if she cared about the students so much.

"What's done is done. I had already accepted what would happen when I challenged Kuyou. If I just sit and mope about it, I'll never get anywhere in life. And even though you say my arm won't heal, I know that I'll get it back eventually. Of course I will be careful so as not to get my body hurt."

The nurse just pressed one hand to her head with her thumb at her temple and two fingers on her forehead. She just sighed at just how I seemed to just keep looking forward in life. She got up and walked to a storage cabinet and pulled out an arm sling and a bottle of pills.

"Use the arm sling so that your arm doesn't swing about and take one of the pills after every meal. It will help dull the pain. The pain should stop in about a week. I put in extra since it seems that you might get hurt again. As for the recovery of your arm, I don't know how long it will take since it differs among species. Just don't try to exert it too much okay?"

"Okay sensei. Thank you for taking care of me."

She placed her hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye. She seemed to be very worried.

"You're a good kid. Just stay out of trouble and stay safe. Can you promise me that Aono-kun?"

"I will try. This school is making it really hard for me though," I joked. I soon put on my jacket and placed my arm in the sling.

She just nodded and ushered me out the door. It seems that she had things to do. As she was guiding me she asked me a question.

"Aono-kun, do you know my name?"

I blushed as I realized that I had completely forgotten about asking since we got into talking about coexistence and my injuries.

"It's fine. Students don't really going go asking for school nurses names anyways. My first name is Elizabeth, and my last name is Emiya. Just call me Liz though."

"Thank you Liz-sensei. I'll see you around."

"As nice as it is talking to you, I don't want to have to see you here again."

I walked away and started to head back to the dorms.

Keito's Perspective

This is interesting information. So he can't use his left arm for quite a while. This is sure to give Komiya-kun quite the advantage when he has to fight him. That orc is so simple, but even he can easily break the boy with such a handicap. It's not like this scum can even surprise Komiya-kun anymore since the orc is likely to be very cautious of any tricks. I even told him that I would overlook him transforming if he wished to kill the boy. I can't wait to witness Aono's death.

Tsukune's Perspective

The path was quite empty while I was walking back to the dorms. It seems that almost all of the students had already left while I was being treated. My mind began to drift as I walked the forest path back.

I was glad the Moka-san had gotten around to helping me. Even though she was prideful, I could tell she didn't see me as a lower species. Or at least she saw me in a better light than she viewed humans. Mizore-san was even there for me the whole time. I was so happy that she had complete faith in me and wanted to make sure I got my jacket back. Remembering she had been wearing it during my fight, I instinctively started to sniff my jacket. It smelled like cherries. Though both of them had come to make sure I was okay, I was kind of sad that Kurumu-chan didn't do so as well. She must have been really emotional knowing that I got hurt pretty badly. She did voice a lot of concern about me fighting Kuyou. I couldn't help but wonder if whether or not she was going to ask me to be her destined one during lunch. I guess I was just thinking too highly of myself since she didn't check up on me. The thought made me feel a bit of relief and a pang of sadness.

I was drawing near to the spot where I could walk to the cliff to watch the sunset. Did I want to go watch the sunset in my condition at a time I would be likely attacked? It was very likely that some monsters would want to attack me now since I was weak and they could easily claim the title as the strongest monster on campus.

"What are you doing?! Stop! Someone help me!"

Someone was screaming in the direction of the cliff. It sounded female. Mizore-san instantly came into my mind and I dashed through the trees. I had to save her from whatever was attacking her. I could feel several of the low hanging branches cut my cheeks and hear the sound of many branches snapping under my feet. I soon came bursting out of the forest and found Mizore-san struggling and trying to get away from Komiya-san.

"Knock it off Komiya-san. We've been through this before. It didn't end well for you remember?"

I tried bluffing as I had no chance of pulling the same stunt I had done this morning. I was too injured and he wouldn't be stupid enough to fall for the same trick.

Komiya-san turned his head at me. He looked disappointed, but I could feel his bloodlust growing from just staring at me. He just laughed at me at this point. The orc was taunting me now.

"Oh? What are you going to do about it? You are still injured from that show today. I even know how to avoid the trick you pulled on me this morning."

He let go of Mizore-san and began to walk towards me. I noticed that his body was beginning to shift and bubble. This was getting from bad to worse. Even though I had faced down Kuyou earlier today, I haven't actually been in a fight in which I had to face a monster transformation. Komiya-san was now standing with several feet added to his height. The upper body had ripped apart his uniform as it increased in size and there were sharp bony like structures where the ridges of his muscles should have been. His legs had remained the same for the most part. The only exception was that they were bulging from the increase in muscle. His tone became menacing very quickly.

"I was hoping to have a little fun with her before you got here, but I can switch the order of how I do things. In fact, I think it will be more interesting if I just pummeled you right now. I can easily do it right now and I'll become famous for defeating you. I can see it now Saizou, the strongest student on campus."

I was standing one moment and then flying through the air the next. There was a sharp pain in my sides telling me that my opponent had just swept his arm against my ribs and that my ribs had just fractured. Soon after this realization, I found myself tumbling on the floor.

"Tsukune!"

I struggle to get up. I couldn't stand straight as my side was hurting. My body had been flung quite far since Komiya-san looked fairly small now. The orc was laughing at how pathetic I looked right now. I was literally falling to pieces at this point.

"Look at you, the mighty monster Aono! You're just a sham! I'll put you out of your misery! And I'll show the girl a good time after I'm done with you."

He licked his lips with a long tongue. The very sight of him disgusted me and made me scared as to when he would charge me. I could barely hobble at this point and he could very easily crush me if he wanted to. The only things I had on me were some books, a carving knife and three more ice potions. In reality the only thing that could help me were the potions since the books were useless and I probably couldn't hurt him too badly with the knife in his monster form.

I heard a cackle from the forest and it drew my eyes off Komiya-san for a second. It was a female cackle and sounded familiar, but malicious in nature. Before I could identify who it was or where it came from, I could hear Komiya-san charging. I instinctively pulled out two ice potions.

Komiya-san was making the same mistake he made last time. The only difference was that he was too big and I was too injured to use the same trick I had this morning. He was closing in fast and I had to think of a way to stop him. Doing what I had done with Kuyou wouldn't work since it would only block a shot and it had cost me an arm. I had to stop his rampage. Looking at my potions, I realized they were cracked from my fall.

I threw one potion a little ahead of where Komiya-san would run. The vial shattered and covered the ground in ice and caught onto his legs. The sudden resistance from his legs caused him to trip and land face first onto the ground. Before he could struggle to get up, I threw the second potion straight between his eyes. The sheer pain of suddenly throwing my entire body into the motion for a second time caused me to collapse on the floor. As I fell, I heard the glass shattered.

It took me a minute to get back up to look at what had happened. Since I wasn't dead yet, I could tell that Komiya-san was at least unable to move. When I managed to get up, I saw that Komiya-san's head was encased in ice. The rest of his body wasn't frozen and he had his arm outstretched. I could see the pupils of his eyes move slightly. It seems I was right when I had thought that the potions wouldn't affect vital functions.

I began to hobble as quickly as I could to where Mizore-san was collapsed on the floor. I quickened my pace with each step and I could feel the pain that permeated my entire body grow more intense. Even with all my efforts, it still took me a few minutes to finally reach her body.

She was extremely flushed and breathing heavily. I noticed that she didn't have her lollipop and was trembling. I lifted her with my good arm and could feel that she no longer had the cool touch I had felt yesterday. She was burning up.

"Mizore-san. Mizore-san. Mizore-san. Come on wake up," I desperately called out to her.

I needed to get her help, but I was in no condition to do so.

My mind frantically began to think of how to help her. She was burning up. I still had the few things from this morning, but there was only the ice potion. That would be too strong to use considering what had happened to Komiya-san and Kuyou's flames. What monster was she again? If I recalled, she said that she was a snow woman. I hope that this ice potion was what she needed. I knew it was safe to drink, but as ice in drinks. I didn't know if this was what she needed.

I opened the vial and put the tip into her mouth. A few moments passed as the fluid drained down her throat. She trembled as she drank and she was still quite flushed. After the contents of the vial were gone I waited to see if she would be okay. She stopped shaking after a couple of seconds and her skin started to become pale again. I could see her eyes beginning to open and look up at me weakly. It looks like she was going to be okay.

"Tsu, Tsukune. Are you okay?"

I don't believe it. This girl was having a serious meltdown and she was more concerned about me. The pain in my side reminded me that I was no better. I was probably on the verge of dying for who knows how many times and I was more worried about her than myself.

She placed one of her hands on my cheek and stroked it. Her hand was cool to the touch again. The soft and smooth feeling of her palm made me smile at her. She was smiling back at me seeing that I seemed to be fine.

"Can you stand Mizore-san? We need to move. It's not safe to be here right now."

She gave me a pout.

"But I want to stay in Tsukune's arms for a bit longer. I feel nice and safe here."

She rarely showed emotions. So every time she did make one, I just found myself thinking about how honest it felt. Her look of disappointment and comment made me consider doing as she wanted. She just looked so at peace in my arms and it made me want to keep her there. Unfortunately, I could sense that someone else was hiding in the forest. It was very likely to be the girl that I had heard earlier.

"I'm sorry Mizore-san. We really do need to get you back to the dorms. I don't have any way of protecting you right now."

"If you call me Mizore-chan than I'll get up Tsukune."

She was still pouting and I turned red from her demands. I added chan when talking to Kurumu-chan, but it was more because that's just how our friendship was like. It was more playful talking than this one was. This felt so much more embarrassing considering how much Mizore-san wanted to hear me say it.

"Okay Mizore-chan. Let's get to a safe place for now."

She gave me a smile and we started to walk back to the dormitory. The path felt long since I could only hobble and she could only drag her feet. I couldn't enjoy the moment because I was still worried about being attacked without anything to defend myself. The whole day was just so tiring. The sun was now hanging low in the sky. Long before we made it back, I could already feel my consciousness starting to fade bit by bit.

Keito's Perspective

"Cheh."

I can't believe that Aono managed to crawl his way out of that situation. Things were looking so bad for him too. I could see him on the verge of dying during the fight. That orc was useless. Even if Komiya-kun was stupid, he should have realized that Tsukune was going to use those potions in some way if it worked against Kuyou-sama.

If it weren't for the fact that Aono cannot be touched by members of the Public Safety Committee, I could kill him and that girl right now. I can't believe that I need to have to use others to take care of my business. Someone had to take claim for Aono's death or the blame would be immediately directed to us. It couldn't be helped because of his public accusations.

The only thing I can do for now is note his weaknesses and determine how to take advantage of them. It appears that Aono only uses those potions to fight and was extremely worried about the girl when he had heard her scream. I wonder how he will do in a fight with multiple monsters. He can only carry so many potions. With only one arm as well, the most he can do is throw one at a time.

I wonder what pack-type monster would be the best way to handle Aono. They had to be ferocious, fast, and quick to learn. I also had to get Aono to openly try to fight them. If he had a proclivity to protect those in need, then I need to find a group that has a common hate for a specific person. The only group that I could think of was the freshmen lizardmen pack. They were one of the few monsters that I could think would be quick to anger and would gang up on someone. The assessment exams are coming up in two days. They are bound to find someone to hate after seeing the results of the exams.

Mizore's Perspective

It was too warm. I needed to get to my room. I would have brought more lollipops to school had I known that that would have happened at school.

Both of us had finally managed to get to the entrance of the girl's dorm.

"Uggghhhhh…"

Tsukune was groaning. I could feel that he was struggling just even to move just by how much he was shaking. His head was lowered from exhaustion and he seemed to be in a daze. It also seems as though he was going to just pass out any second. He would never make it back to his room in such a state.

"Come on Tsukune, we're almost there. Just hang in there," I said pleadingly.

If I had only gotten more of my lollipops or had just went back to the dorms earlier, Tsukune wouldn't have had to save me.

I could feel Tsukune beginning to slip as we made our way to my room. I was also feeling faint from the heat. No one came to help us and demand to know why a boy was here. None of the other girls were out in the hallway. Most of them were probably cooking dinner in their own rooms or eating at the cafeteria.

We made it to my door and I pushed it open. Refreshing chill blew through the doorway. I still felt exhausted, but not on the verge of collapsing quite yet. Tsukune was already passed out. I hurried to place him by the wall. I just didn't have the strength to put him onto the bed.

He was a human so he needed to stay warm or he would get sick. I looked around and remembered that I didn't have too many blankets. He was already wearing that leather jacket, but I was worried that it wouldn't be enough. After shuffling through my drawer, I pulled out a few bath towels to place over him.

The boy was sleeping so peacefully and looked quite comfortable despite lying against a wall. Now that I was sure that he was okay, I felt the exhaustions of the day hit me. I instinctively just walked to where Tsukune was and sat down next time him. I moved the covers so that I could feel his warmth. He was alive and I could feel that he was next to me. Looks like I still got to stay with him by my side.

"Good night Tsukune," I sleepily said before closing my eyes. I fell asleep as his body warmed up my arm and his scent drifted throughout the room.

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.

#2: So here is my first actual original character that I'm considering to make really important in the story. Please do tell me how I did in designing her personality. I may have mentioned her earlier, but at the time I just said she was the nurse for the convenience. Now I think that she might make a great character in the story if she is well received. Send reviews on her and if I see that you all like her, then she will definitely stay.

#3: Ice potions are strangely and ridiculously convenient. I did not realize this until writing this story. They lower fevers, stop fires, trip bullies, and incapacitate rapists. But most important of all, they give you ice to make your drinks cold.

#4: Let's count Tsukune's current injuries at this point. His entire back is still bruised, his left arm is useless and he now has fractured ribs. I don't know about you, but I'm wondering if a person can even really move at all with the amount of crap he has gone through in two days.

#5: To the reviews telling me to give Tsukune powers, why are you telling me this so early on? The story up to this point has only covered two days. The real manga gives him powers at around the end of the first semester when he almost dies. If you only count when he actually becomes a supernatural, he technically only gained powers late second semester. Just have some patience. The story wouldn't be any fun if he just straight up had the power to beat down anything in his way.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Tsukune's Perspective

Dream Sequence

I could hear crying in the distance. The sky was dark and everything was fuzzy. It was really hard to see beyond the tip of my nose for some reason. As I got closer to the crying, a fragrant smell drifted to my nose. My head became more muddled as I got closer to the crying.

End Dream Sequence

I awoke to the sounds of shuffling feet. It seems that I had managed to make it back to the dorms. The other students were starting to get up and about. They chatted happily away outside the door. They sounded female. Why did they sound female?

"Good morning Tsukune. Did you sleep well?"

I found Mizore-chan coming in from the door with a few sandwiches in her hands. How was she able to get into my room? I began to look around and finally register what was happening. I found myself lying against a wall with several bath towels covering me. There were several brushes on the desk in the corner and the room was actually quite cold.

"What happened last night Mizore-chan? Why am I in your room?"

She put the sandwiches on the desk and proceeded to sit in front of me. As if she didn't want me to run away, she held my right hand in both of hers.

"We slept together," she flatly said. The snow woman showed no expressions when she stated this.

My jaw just dropped. I could feel the room's temperature drop just from hearing that statement. I tried to calmly ask her what she was talking about.

"Wh-why don't I remember this Mizore-chan?"

"You were unconscious Tsukune. It was very difficult to get you into a comfortable position."

This was worse than I had initially thought. I was hoping that I was misunderstanding something. I know, she probably meant nothing by it. I knew Mizore-chan. She can be a bit odd at times, but not that odd. That was when I had noticed my old ripped uniform hanging on the wall. Before I could ask anything else, she continued to talk again.

"I'm really glad that you were with me that night. You felt really warm."

This must be a dream right? There was no way that this girl stole my innocence. This was just too much information for my heart to take in the morning. I had to ask her straight out to make sure I was just thinking too much.

"Mizore-chan, what did you mean when you said we slept together?"

"I sat next to you and slept tucked into your arm."

I had a victory lap in my mind as I realized that I wasn't force to do anything strange. After my mind had calmed down, I saw that Mizore-chan was still holding onto my hand. My face grew red as I realized how long she had been holding it.

"Were you thinking of something perverted Tsukune?"

I was before, but now I was just embarrassed.

"A little bit," I said guiltily.

She drew her hands away. My hand suddenly felt lonely from the sudden lack of touch. Mizore-chan was looking away, and her face was red.

"Anyways, how are you feeling Mizore-chan? Is your fever completely gone?" I asked to get away from the awkward situation.

She looked back at me. Her face had returned to its natural pale complexion. She was speaking calmly once more.

"I'm fine now. How did you know that I needed to stay cold in order to survive?"

"I didn't. I guessed because I remembered that you had told me you were a snow woman. How did you get so sick anyways? The last time I had seen you, you were perfectly fine."

She pulled out her lollipop and began to twirl it in my face before she proceeded to speak again.

"I need to stay cold because the environment here is at a temperature high enough that it is like me sitting in a sauna. If I stay out too long without going to a really cold place, I will pass out and eventually die. This lollipop actually has a cooling effect. The reason why I had passed out earlier was because the amount I had brought to school wasn't enough. It was also the reason why I couldn't fight off Komiya-san."

I looked at her questioningly. I believed her story, but something hadn't matched up with what she said.

"But you were able to attend the whole class on the first day and stay out until it was nighttime. If you were able to do it then, why wouldn't you have the amount of lollipops needed to get through the whole day?"

Mizore-san was now looking at my left arm with a touch of concern.

"The fight you had with Kuyou was a lot more dangerous than you may have given it credit for. It was definitely a good idea for you to have dragged it all the way to the gates. Kuyou's attack actually had sent a massive heat wave through the audience even though we had all stood back so far away. It melted away all of my lollipops. I'm really surprised that you managed to get away with only that much burnt flesh."

Seeing her look at my arm with such a sad look in her eye made me feel guilty. I forced a smile on my face and tried to make it look like it was no big deal.

"I'm fine Mizore-chan. It was only my left arm and I was told by Liz-sensei that I would be able to use it again. So don't look at it like it's a lost cause."

I tried to lift my right up arm to pat her head to assure her that I was really fine. A sudden pain shot through my sides as I lifted my arm. I had forgotten about my now fractured ribs and winced in front of the snow girl. She looked down glumly over the fact that I had gotten injured for her sake. I mentally smacked myself for hurting the girl I was trying to make feel better.

"Mizore-chan, I know you may be feeling bad that I had gotten hurt. The thing is you shouldn't. Whether or not you had been involved, Komiya-san would have come after me anyways. I'm just really happy I got to save you in time. I don't know what I would have done if I had found out that he had done something to you. In fact I should also be thanking you since your cries for help also put me on guard."

She pressed the top of her head against my chest, which prevented me from seeing her face.

"I know you are just trying to make me feel better Tsukune. You tend to talk a lot more when you are thinking. You also tend to be less straight forward."

There was a moment of silence. She really knew me well. We had only met a couple of days ago and she was already reading me like a book. Looks like I'm nowhere near Dad's level to hold a poker face. I tried to think of what to say to make Mizore-chan feel better, but I realized that it would hurt her more. She continued to speak softly to me.

"It's okay Tsukune. It was my fault for not just coming straight back to the dorms to get a few more lollipops. I could have just gone here first before going to the cliff. You wouldn't have gotten hurt yesterday if I hadn't been so stupid."

I wanted ask her what she had meant by that, but I felt her trembling and a few wet spots appear on my pants. It wouldn't be right to just let her cry like that and ask her questions. I did the only thing that felt natural. I wrapped my arm around her head and began to brush her purple hair before whispering five words.

"I'm just glad your okay."

Mizore's Perspective

Why did Tsukune have to get hurt like this? I could see how badly he was getting hurt no matter how much he said he was fine. He was just trying to attend school and people keep coming after him. Why did I have to get him involved with such an unnecessarily brutal fight? I could have just waited until today to go see him. He wouldn't have had to fight an orc yesterday to protect me.

"I know you would have come to save me if I was in danger. So please, don't cry Mizore-chan. Okay?"

Tsukune was right. I would have done the same for him, but he shouldn't have to. He was a human. No matter how smart or clever he was, eventually he would have to deal with a monster that would kill him. I didn't want him to die. I managed to croak out to him.

"Okay, just promise me you won't go jumping to your death."

"I can't promise that. There are some things that I have to be willing to risk everything for."

His response made me want to cry once more. I knew he was serious and would still keep going on despite my pleas. I was worried and wanted him to just give up, yet it was the very reason why I wanted to be with him in the first place. Tsukune was kind and followed through with his ideals, but it was killing him.

"Then I'll just protect you. I'll watch over you and make sure that you will be safe," I said weakly.

"That sounds nice Mizore-chan."

His stomach started to growl. I had forgotten that he probably hadn't eaten anything since lunch yesterday. I pulled my head off of Tsukune's chest and saw that he was blushing because of how loud his stomach was. His simple nature made me give him a small smile.

"Tsukune, I got some egg sandwiches from the convenience store. Is there anything you would like to drink?"

As I walked to my desk to get the sandwiches, I could feel that warmth from the embrace fade.

"Could I just have some water?"

"Sure thing Tsukune. Anything you want."

Tsukune's Perspective

We were found ourselves eating our breakfast. I'm really relieved to know that Mizore-chan wasn't beating herself up anymore. It also felt really comforting to know that she wanted to keep me safe.

Thinking about her worries about me jumping to my death, I couldn't help but think about how my tactics weren't always going to work. Even with my quick thinking, I was still getting hurt to the point where I was about to collapse just from all the injuries I had gotten.

It also seems that someone had egged Komiya-san on to start the fight. She was probably taking notes on my weakness and limits should I have come out alive. The girl probably had an idea of how to take advantage of my state or to get around my strategies. My tricks may not even hold up against the next monsters or monsters I had to fight. I need to find a better way to fight back.

"Tsukune, how do you feel about the assessment exam tomorrow?"

"The what and when now?"

I gave her a look wondering what she had been saying. I hadn't heard of any assessment exam since coming here. I didn't think we would have any assessment exam so soon since we didn't need to test into the school.

"The assessment exam is tomorrow. They told us that yesterday. Weren't you listening to Nekonome-sensei?"

I have no recollection of our teacher having told us. But then again, I didn't have the energy to pay attention that morning nor did I have the time to pay attention in the afternoon. The funny thing was that even though I had to be ready for an exam I didn't know about, I didn't feel worried. It was just another reminder of how my priorities have become so skewed since coming here.

"I think I'll be fine. If it is just an assessment like the high school entrance exams in the human world, then I think I can manage."

How different could it be from the entrance exams? We were trying to blend in with the humans.

"Did your human schools have a section concerning monster history and culture?" She asked me while tilting her head. It seems she was telling me that she knew my answer, but wanted to tease my oversight.

I really should have figured that there would be a section on that. How would I be able to know any of that when monsters were hidden from humans? She laughed at the look on my face and resumed to speak.

"Don't worry about it. Most students do terribly on that section anyways. I hear that only a few students are able to do well in that subject. Apparently only a select few bother learning it."

I frowned at her. I thought that that was a bad attitude to take to a test since a major part of school was about actually doing well.

"Mizore-chan, you make it sound like you don't care how well you do. Shouldn't you put a little more effort as a student?"

"That's because it doesn't matter to me. As long as I am above the failing grade, I'll be fine. I'm not here to learn."

It was such a straight answer that I really had no idea how to respond. She really does go at her pace for everything. I wanted to press her for more information about why she was here, but held back since she may not have wanted me to ask. If she really wanted me to know then she would have told me.

I asked, "You're really disinterested at school aren't you?"

"It's just a place to meet a lot of other people Tsukune. Anything more or less is just there as activities."

Mizore-chan was right to a certain extent. We were all students here and we all hung out with others afterschool. If you consider studying as something to pass the time, it really was just another activity. But the way she said it made it sound so boring and lonely. It seems that she didn't think of the others classmates as her friends. Now that I think about it, I was only her friend because we had a common interest and I approached her.

"Man, I wanted to study with you Mizore-chan. Buuuuut I guess if academics aren't that important to you…" I teased.

The snow women shot towards me and quickly said, "I'll study with you!"

Her usually unemotional face was looking at me pleadingly. I was trying to get her to study, but I never expected that such a small nudge would have caused such a change in heart. Her reaction made me think about how Liz-sensei told me that I just pulled everyone for the ride. Looks like it didn't just apply to gossip.

I simply responded, "Okay."

We soon were diving right into the books. As we progressed, I realized Mizore-chan wasn't just saying that she didn't care about learning. The snow woman was absolutely clueless in some fundamental concepts. She was having difficulty understanding basic concepts of addition and subtraction. How did she make it to high school without that much? How did she even make it above the failing mark before? The only thing I could think of was that there was no entrance exam here and that maybe where she was from education took a low priority.

After spending several hours on math, English, and science, I finally managed to get her to a level I was confident would net her around seventy percent of the answers. It was the final subject that I was worried about. I had no idea for what was going to be on the subject and Mizore-chan didn't seem to have cared about it before.

I opened the book and found myself pleasantly surprised. A lot of the text was dedicated to human history, but there were a couple of twists to the information I heard before.

Mizore-chan was asking me questions from the book because she was confused as to how I knew some of the answers without any prior study in the subject. There were also many that I could infer from my knowledge of history.

"On March 6, 1961, the American branch for coexistence used this order to institute affirmative action. What is this order called, how did it go about creating affirmative action, and what is its significance?"

The words 'affirmative action' were about creating equal opportunity for ethnicities in getting jobs if I recall correctly.

"It was Executive Order 10925. The order created a committee to ensure that there was equal opportunity during the employment process. It also made it so that federally funded projects had to ensure that racial bias would not be an issue. Its significance for the monster world was that it was a means to test whether or not humans could ignore skin color as a judging factor? It was also a means to get the Americans to understand that appearance did not make a person?"

I honestly had no idea whether the last parts were true or not. It just sounded like it would make sense considering what the question was asking in the first place. Mizore-chan began flipping to where the answers were listed.

"You got most of it right Tsukune. You also needed to say that it was one of the first major attempts by the American branch to influence the government. The American branch seemed the most reluctant before because the higher ups did not believe that the Americans were capable of ignoring appearance. Since then, the American branch has taken a more active role in achieving coexistence. But that's still amazing Tsukune. How are you able to answer these questions on monster history so well when you only started today?"

"I'm actually surprised at how some of the information just seems to be about how monsters have influenced the human world in the shadows. I found it interesting that several book series were actually attempts to ease us into believing into monsters."

I can never see media in the same way anymore. Apparently books like Harry Potter or Twilight were actually ideas transmitted to the authors' dreams. The anime industry was even dominated by several monster corporations to instill the idea of coexistence. Though there are still many other monster corporations that try to keep scaring the humans. It was strange learning that many of the human policies and ideas that monsters were not bad had actually stemmed from the monsters' decision to step in.

As we progressed with our studies I also noticed how much the human world had actually helped develop the monster world as well. Many techniques in medicine and technological innovations had actually made its way into benefitting monsters. Blood transfusions and the AC has helped kept the monster communities alive and spread their environments. Looking at the girl in front of me, I realized that the AC was the only reason why I had met her. Without it, she would have been stuck where she was born.

There was only one question that came to mind while I studied. Why haven't we been able to break the boundary between the worlds and just come together yet? There were many monsters who were trying to make it so that humans could accept the idea that monsters existed peacefully. There was also a clear benefit for monsters simply from just taking innovations that the humans made.

"Mizore-chan, why are the human and monster worlds still separate?"

She looked up from her notes and tilted her head. It seems that she didn't really understand what was so confusing. I resumed speaking to help clarify why I was asking.

"The book makes it clear that humans have helped monster society to a certain extent and that there are many monsters that wish to break the boundary. It even states that many attempts have been made for quite a long time."

She just gave me a sad look. It seems Mizore-chan had some news that I wouldn't like to hear.

"That's because many of the wounds are hard to heal even with time Tsukune. You still haven't heard the whole story since they omitted the darker parts of our history to promote coexistence. Plus the monsters who wish to coexist have only come out more recently. The number of monsters that wants to be at peace with the humans is still much too small in comparison to those who still hold grudges."

"What happened to have made the situation so bad?"

She gave me an uncomfortable look. It seems that she didn't know either. She spoke hesitantly.

"I'm not sure. Snow women haven't had to deal with things like this too much. The only thing I can think of is what Mother told me. I remember she said something about an exorcist when humans started to grow in number."

A silence pervaded the room as we thought about why we couldn't just break the boundaries. There was an evident effort being made by monsters and it wasn't like humanity couldn't accept the idea. Sure we would be scared and some agencies might try to take advantage of the situation, but it should have been doable. How long would we have to wait to see the barrier disappear?

Before we knew it, it was already time for dinner. I could tell that Mizore-chan was just exhausted for having actually studied for so long for a test. I got up and offered my right hand to her so that she could get up.

"Hey lets go get some dinner. I think we have studied enough for today."

She gave me a smile and grabbed my hand. I could feel the familiar cool touch permeate from it.

"Okay Tsukune. Thanks for getting me to study with you. It was fun."

We proceeded to walk out the door to head to the cafeteria.

Kurumu's Perspective

I found myself carrying a basket of get well pastries. I felt bad that I hadn't visited Tsukune-kun when he was injured, but I had to make these for him. I wanted to properly congratulate him and show how much I wanted him to get better. I also wanted to impress him with my baking skills. He might end up liking me more and think I would be a good girlfriend if I told them it was handmade. I'm sure he would understand why I hadn't seen him yesterday.

As I was walking along the hallway on the first floor, a door swung open. The purple haired girl who had stood up for Tsukune-kun yesterday walked out of it. If I remember correctly, her name was Mizore. Before I could call out to Mizore, I saw Tsukune-kun walk out of her room with a smile on his face.

That smile hurt my heart. He looked like he was having a lot of fun with Mizore. Why was he coming out of her room? I hadn't heard him talk about her yesterday. Was she his girlfriend? I didn't want to see this. I was going to give him these pastries to him and I wanted him to think about me. It looks like that that wasn't possible. I was about to turn around so that I could go back to my room.

"Ah, Kurumu-chan. Are you going to go to dinner too? Want to join us?"

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.

#2: Sorry to tell you all, but it looks like I have to slow down on these releases. I have schoolwork to do. Though I guess I shouldn't be apologizing since I updated on almost a daily basis for over a week. Thank you for all of the reviews, a lot of them have interesting commentary about the story itself. Several of them have already helped me figure out how to make the writing better in terms of flow and development.

#3: So this chapter is on the shorter side, but I do hope you enjoy it. The next chapter will likely be short as well.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Kurumu's Perspective

"Ah, Kurumu-chan. Are you going to go to dinner too? Want to join us?"

Tsukune-kun was giving me a wide smile when he had called out to me. I could see that Mizore was giving a disappointed look behind Tsukune-kun. I couldn't tell if Tsukune-kun was just asking me to go eat with him because he was my friend or if he was really glad enough to see me to ignore the obvious interest the girl next to him had for him. In either case, I wanted to know why he had been coming out of another girl's room.

"Sure thing Tsukune-kun. But I made you some get-well pastries. Want to eat that instead?"

"You made food? That sounds really good Kurumu-chan."

I could see his eyes drift upwards as he was trying to imagine how good my baking skills were. I began to notice a slight chill in the air and saw that Mizore was looking at me. I could tell she was disappointed like before, but her face was really hard to read. I began to talk in a playful tone to see if I could more of an idea of what their relationship was like.

"I hope it is Tsu-ku-ne-kun. I spent alllllll of last night and today to make it perfect. I'm sorry I didn't check to see if you were okay yesterday. I just wanted to give you something nice to show I cared."

I looked behind Tsukune-kun to see how Mizore was reacting. Her face had remained unchanged, but the temperature seemed too low. I couldn't exactly tell how much progress she had made, but the more I tried to press on, the colder it got. Was Tsukune-kun just not cold or was the chill I was feeling just in my head? It seems that Tsukune-kun noticed how I was constantly looking behind his back.

"Ah, Kurumu-chan, this is Mizore-chan. She is in our class too."

Tsukune-kun didn't seem to have any difficulty introducing us. I also wanted to see what Mizore was like so I proceeded to greet her.

"Hi Mizore! I'm Kurumu, let's get along okay?"

The purple haired girl was giving me that same neutral look she had before and greeted me quietly.

"It's nice to meet you Kurumu-chan. I hope we can get along."

Her voice sounded exactly how she looked. I couldn't tell what she was thinking. I felt that should could have meant it or been threatening me. Mizore was just too hard to read compared to Tsukune-kun.

The only thing I could figure out from the reactions from both Tsukune-kun and this girl was that they weren't dating yet. I could tell that Mizore was interested because of her earlier stares and how I just felt a bit of danger around her. Tsukune-kun had just treated the conversation as though he was just introducing two friends, which I guess he really was.

Now that I think about it, there was no way Tsukune-kun could have had a girlfriend yet. Even if I was attracted to him, he hasn't actually had the time to go out and talk to girls besides me and that vampire. Tsukune-kun was also too innocent. Just simple acts of intimacy got him nervous. But I still couldn't ignore the fact that he had just come out of another girl's room.

Mizore asked, "Why don't we eat in my room? We're here anyways and it would be safer to not have to go out."

I saw Tsukune-kun give a look of concern at Mizore. I felt that her comment about her room being safer had a different purpose behind it. I know Tsukune-kun was strong enough to handle himself, and the look Tsukune-kun was giving Mizore wasn't really one worried about safety. His eyes didn't look worried, but more concerned. Was she just shy and was he just trying to get her to be more open? She did seem to be more antisocial than a lot of people I had met before. I didn't want Tsukune-kun to have to choose between forcing her to be more open or feel like he was allowing her to just hide away from everyone else.

"That sounds like a good idea Mizore! I kind of want to see what your room is like. I might get to know you better," I cheerfully said.

With my response, Tsukune-kun shouldn't have to deal with whatever guilt he could come up with from either choice. I could tell that Tsukune-kun wanted her to be more social, but he followed suit since it was already two to one.

As we entered through the doorway, I felt a cold blast of air rush at me. This girl was definitely an ice-type monster. If Tsukune-kun had been in here all day, he wouldn't have felt the chill coming from Mizore's stare.

This was bad. Mizore was an ice-type monster in a cold room, and I was going to be eating with her when I could tell that she disliked my presence. The only thing that was likely stopping her from attacking me was the fact that she liked Tsukune-kun and didn't want to get on his bad side.

We all sat around the chabudai and began eating the food I had made.

"Wow! This amazing Kurumu-chan! Where did you learn to bake these?"

Though the room was cold, I felt myself warm up to know that Tsukune-kun really liked what I had made for him. He was giving me that smile that I had seen when we first met. I didn't want this moment to end, but the question I wanted to ask kept itching at the back of my mind. I tried to talk playfully with him once more.

"So Tsu-ku-ne-kun, what were you doing coming out of another girl's room?"

"That's really none of your business Kurumu."

I had expected Tsukune-kun to answer, but the sharp voice came from Mizore instead. Her response made me feel dread since it seemed personal to her. It sounded like it was the answer I didn't want to hear. I continued to poke at the situation because it seemed like Tsukune-kun wanted to tell her off about her tone. Though I was scared of what I could hear, his reaction made me want to confirm what really happened.

"Oh, but I'm a succubus. It is my business to talk about things like this. Besides, I'm just curious about what my friends do. Is there anything wrong about wanting to know more about my friends?"

"Hey! You're not supposed to reveal your identity to others Kurumu-chan."

I just stared at Tsukune-kun for a few seconds. He was right, but I can't believe he was such a stickler for the rules. His insistence to the rules slightly hurt. The pain wasn't from his scolding tone, but because his insistence made me feel as though he didn't trust me. Why did he always claim to be a human? I was his friend. He should be able to trust me.

"Oh please Tsukune-kun. No one follows those rules besides you. You are not even that good at hiding your identity despite claiming to be a human," I said jokingly to hide the pain I was starting to feel.

My last comment seemed to have made him really tense and he was now looking down at the chabudai. Was he feeling hurt from not being able to tell me what he really was? Why couldn't he tell me if he really want to? Is it really the rules that are holding him back from telling me?

Mizore seemed to have noticed or known that that comment would have hurt Tsukune-kun in some way. She had almost immediately responded before I had too much time to take my eyes off of the boy.

"It's still against the rules. If you really want to know what Tsukune was doing in my room today, we were studying for the assessment exam tomorrow."

Her information washed away most of my fears that had been growing in the back of my mind. Tsukune-kun really was only studying with this girl, but I still needed to know whether or not he was interested in her as a future girlfriend or as a friend trying to help out another friend. I directed my next comments to Tsukune-kun so that he wouldn't stay hurt over my last comment.

"Ehhhhh. Tsukune-kun, did you just want to study with a girl? You could have asked me if you wanted to study together. Why didn't you?"

My questions made him turn red. I at least knew that he had an interest in me and may have known what I may have meant with my questions. I couldn't get more information out of him because Mizore once again added her input before he had a chance to respond.

"He stayed the night in my room. Since I know you are going to ask anyways, I'll tell you why. He saved me from being raped and got hurt in the process. He escorted me to my room and then passed out. The studying just happened after he realized that he didn't know about it before."

Her response was really clear and straight to the point. Mizore was definitely telling the truth, and I knew that Tsukune-kun was the kind of guy that would do the right thing. Any trace of fear had now left my system since I now knew that Tsukune-kun was still available.

After our whole conversation about why Tsukune-kun had been coming out of Mizore's room, we talked about various things. We talked about what clubs we would join, and how cool Tsukune-kun looked fighting Kuyou. He even confessed about how scared he actually was. It reminded me of when we first met. Just being there and spending time with him just felt so natural. Mizore even seemed like a really nice girl that just had trouble opening up.

We talked about various things until it was time to go. Tsukune-kun got up to leave since he didn't want to run into any other girls in the dorms. I was about to see if I could walk him back since he was still hurt and I wanted to spend more time with him, but I found that my leg had been frozen to the ground. It appears that Mizore wanted to talk to me without Tsukune-kun knowing the details. We both waved Tsukune-kun goodbye before he left.

_Click_

I felt my leg had thawed. I gave Mizore a serious look.

"What is it that you wanted to talk to me in private about Mizore?"

"I just wanted to tell you that Tsukune is mine."

"Oh? But it seems that Tsukune-kun isn't dating you," I retorted.

"For now. At least he knows that I actually like him compared to your situation," Mizore calmly replied.

The way she said it made me wonder what she knew. Did Tsukune-kun actually talk about me with her or was she just trying to throw me off? As I was wondering how to go about, Mizore took advantage of the situation.

"I was wondering what Tsukune meant when he said he got mixed signals from you, but after getting to know you, I can see what he meant. Do you even really like Tsukune?"

"Of course I like him! If I didn't like him, why are we even having this conversation?" I responded instantly. How could she even doubt that I liked him when I was clearly trying to get him to notice me?

"Fine. Fine. I was just unsure because you actually seemed to be playing both sides. It is hard to tell if you are actually interested when you ask Tsukune about his love life as though you already gave up on him," Mizore coolly said while shrugging her shoulders.

I wanted to hit the girl in front of me. Her unchanging face and just lack of evident emotions made her hard to read. The fact that I was constantly asking about Tsukune-kun's love life should have made it obvious that I was interested in him. What was she thinking behind that mask? I restrained myself to only giving her a glare and spoke to her sharply.

"Come on, we both know it was obvious that I wanted to know if Tsukune-kun was available. Even if I am a succubus, the only stories about love that interest me are ones of my own."

She tilted her head slightly. I was beginning to get a bit worried about my safety when I saw that she was furrowing her eyebrows. Though it annoyed me when I couldn't read her face, those slight facial changes sent chills down my spine. I could just feel that what she was about to say would make me regret staying behind. She began to speak once more, but it had a slight tone of displeasure.

"I know it was obvious between us, but it isn't for Tsukune. You show interest in him one moment and then act normal when the fact that he might be taken comes up. Your little moments of teasing for information must confuse him sometimes."

How much did she even know about our relationship? The both of us had only met today after Tsukune-kun had introduced us. She didn't know that Tsukune-kun was the one to find out my identity after hearing my introduction. He should have easily been able to tell that my teasing were my way of finding out whether or not we could be together. Tsukune-kun must have known who I had my eyes on. Tsukune-kun and I shared moments when I was sure that he knew what I wanted. He actually cared about me and knew I cared for him.

But her comment stuck to mind. What if he didn't know about my feelings? During my moment of contemplation, Mizore resumed speaking.

"Remember Kurumu, you are a succubus. Enslaving men is what you do. The fact that Tsukune hasn't been brainwashed by you is beyond me, but it begs a question that I think even you can guess. Why hasn't he become one of your lovers yet? The fact that he isn't one makes me, and probably him, wonder if you just see him as a friend."

I guess I should have listened to Tsukune-kun more. I really shouldn't reveal my identity. Knowing such information really gave the other side an advantage in a fight, even if it was only an argument. But she still didn't know what Tsukune-kun and I even talked about.

"Tsukune-kun isn't my lover because he already knew I was a succubus from the get go. He also has a resistance to charm spells. He already knows that and he must be able to guess that I like him from the fact that there are no other guys in my sight."

I tried to reassure myself that Tsukune-kun knew, but even I realized how shaky my argument was in the whole scheme of things. Men shouldn't have the ability to resist a succubus's charm, and a succubus almost never found their destined one so quickly. Despite how unbelievable my story was, Mizore seemed to have let most my explanation slide and proceeded to question me.

"But that is the thing. How can he ever be sure that you are just asking to be his friend or if you are trying to legitimately win his heart?"

I noticed that the room dropped in temperature once more. Was the temperature of the room affected by her emotions? I started to feel a bit scared at what could happen if I angered her. Even with this fear of her anger, I still felt my emotions start to rise closer to the surface.

"Tsukune-kun is my destined one. I will make him understand that, and I know he will accept my love for him. It doesn't matter if you try to scare me, I will get my feelings across to him."

The room didn't get any colder. It seems that my comment didn't touch another nerve despite the fact that I was doing exactly she didn't want me to do. Mizore just continued to talk unfazed.

"How can you know he is your destined one? You are a succubus and you are supposed to gather a whole harem of men to choose from. You haven't even managed to completely convince him of your interest."

"I already know that it is him! He is the only guy that I have met that isn't fawning over me just for my looks! He actually takes the time to get to know me! I like him because he actually cares about me! Why we even discussing this if all you are going to do is question whether or not I love him?!"

Despite the fact that I was yelling at her at this point, she became quite calm and showed no indication of any emotion.

"Because what you just described is a friend. You may not know this since you may never have had a guy try to get to know you, but that is what friends do. You might be confusing love for strong feelings for a friend."

Even though I knew Tsukune-kun was my destined one, her comment had caused me to pause for a moment. Mizore was right in that I had never really gotten to know any other guy before. I had always had to deal with guys who were just after my body. Tsukune-kun was the first to actually try to get to know me. I knew that he was special and made me want to be with him.

In that moment of silence and hesitation, I saw that the room had actually started to grow ice along the walls. I looked at Mizore and noticed that her eyes were giving me a dark look as though she was ready to murder. I could see her breath as she began to speak vehemently.

"How much do you even know about Tsukune? If you really did love him, you would be able to describe something important to him from his past. Try it. I dare you to try thinking back to something that mattered to him before he came to this school."

I was going to boast that I knew something. I was going to prove that I did love Tsukune-kun. I was going to get this girl in front of me to shut up. Instead of doing all that, I gawked as my mind drew a blank. The only thing Tsukune-kun and I had actually talked about were either about how scared Tsukune-kun was or about my problems as a succubus. The only other thing I could think about was about school. We had never talked about his past. I was beginning to tear up as the thing that hurt most when concerning Tsukune-kun popped up.

"I love him. But I can't dig into his past. Tsukune-kun doesn't trust me enough. He won't even tell me his monster identity."

The room suddenly got a lot warmer compared to before. It was still cold, but now all of the ice was gone. I looked up to see that Mizore's eyes were full of sadness. She spoke coolly now.

"He's a human and that is all there is to it."

"What? Don't tell me you believe such a ridiculous lie like that! How can he be human after going through so much these past few days? Why hasn't he run away if he was human?"

I was confused. Did Mizore actually know and was protecting his secret or did she really not know and was showing me pity? Either way, her statement was just adding more anger to my distraught mind. Despite my obvious instability, she resumed to speak.

"Tsukune says that he is a human. I don't need to ever know what his monster identity is. The topic just brings up discomfort for him. He has his reasons so let's just leave it be."

Though I had expected her comment to just drive me over the edge, it had surprisingly calmed me down a bit. I knew what she was saying was something that was bothering me for so long. I had thought she pitied me by trying to act as though she understood, but she had just been telling me to not mind the secrecy so much. It brought my attention to the one question that had prevented me from really feeling close to Tsukune-kun and kept him uncomfortable.

Why was I even so obsessed about his monster identity in the first place? Was it just because Tsukune-kun had so easily guessed my own identity? Was it because I wanted to know what made him able to do what he could do? In any case, I suddenly felt a lot better by just dropping the whole issue. Even though I had started to feel better, I remembered that I was still arguing with Mizore. I looked back at the girl in front of me and confidently started to speak once more.

"You know you are right that I should have been able to tell you one detail about his past, but the fact that I can't mention a moment yet does not mean I do not love him. He may also be the first guy that has even bothered trying to get to know me like a friend, but that is why I have fallen in love with him. I have fallen in love with the Tsukune-kun that I have met here. Even though succubuses are creatures of passion and lust, I know that I love Tsukune-kun. I fell in love with the smile he showed me. I want to protect the innocent nature he has shown me. I want to protect him from the dangers that scare him. I want to protect him from the dangers here. I want to talk to him and share our problems together. I want to be there when he just needs some time to get some rest. I want to be together with him. We'll have plenty of time to get to know one another. Just because you claim him for your own, I won't back down and just let you take him. He is my destined one and nothing you say can deter me. I will make him happy."

Mizore's face remained neutral, but I could sense the cold coming back. It seems that she had been trying to break my resolve the whole time by making me question my own feelings instead of just threatening me or convincing me that Tsukune-kun had no feelings for me. I had to give her credit in that it was a certainly smarter and more peaceful way to get a guy than I would have thought of.

I got up as I realized the discussion was over and headed to the door. As my hand touched the doorknob, Mizore called out to me.

"Since we both know that I am going to win in the end, let's at least act like friends in front of Tsukune."

Without looking back, I just said, "Right back at ya."

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.

#2: Have to say, this chapter was ridiculously hard to write (took me four scenarios before I felt it was readable). Even if I wasn't slowing down in updating speed, this chapter still would have forced me to break the whole chapter a day thing I was going for. The only thing I can say is that I think I wrote myself into a corner before, so I apologize if this chapter does suck (especially the ending) in comparison to my others. I do promise that the my next few chapters will be back to my original quality or better.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Tsukune's Perspective

I found myself lazily walking to school early today. Looking around, there was no one else along the pathway. I chuckled to myself as I realized that my tendency to leave early for tests may have just saved me from getting myself into another fight. The thought of what I had to go through so early on in the school year made my right hand grip the new ice potions I bought last night.

Though the glass feeling in my hand should have calmed me down, I just ended up feeling more anxious because I knew that my tricks with them wouldn't be able to last much longer. I would have looked for something else, but the convenience store didn't sell anything that I could turn into something for self-defense. The only other options were nowhere near as inconspicuous as the small vials. The only other thing I could think of was the makeshift flamethrower, which required me to have both hands to use.

I shook my head. It wasn't good to get myself so riled up before the assessment exams. Worrying would just defeat the purpose of coming to school an hour early. I can't even do anything about my survival at the moment anyways. I just need to get through the test first.

Though, the whole prioritization of the test over my own survival seemed quite strange. Was I actually starting to get used to having my life in danger or did I just never really cared too much about my death? Liz-sensei even commented about how I probably take my health into more consideration. I guess that I do need to worry about it more considering how I had friends in the monster world that cared about me. Before it would have mattered less since Mikogami-san would just wipe any memory of me from the human world if I had died here.

I really need to stop thinking about my own death. I'm still in high school and was going to a school that I had always dreamed of. I looked up to see the clear blue sky. It was apparently quite rare here. It seems that the magical barrier over this school had the effect of making the skies grey most of the time and extremely red as the sun hovered over the horizon. The change in atmosphere was quite relaxing. It reminded me of the human world only for the fact that I was more used to a blue sky.

A breeze caused a whistling sound to resound throughout the black forest lining the path to school. The air was fresh and crisp. My exposed face and hand felt a slight chill from the wind, but it served to wake me up from any remaining drowsiness I had from being up so early. It was quite a calm and peaceful morning.

"Aono-kun! You're here early today. School doesn't start for another hour. Why are you here so early?"

I broke out of my thoughts about the morning and looked around. I eventually managed to spot to Liz-sensei. She was holding a clipboard and several papers. I didn't want to appear rude and responded to her questions.

"Good morning Liz-sensei. Today's actually the assessment exam. I just have a habit of coming early to school when something like this pops up."

She just gave me a sly grin and said, "Oh? Is that so? Since you are here, would you mind helping me fill out an inventory report?"

I got the feeling that her request was more of a demand. Looking at myself, I only had one good arm. My back was a lot better compared to the first day, but she should have seen how bruised it was when she was looking at my arm two days ago. She seemed to want to talk to me about something important.

"Uhhh… sure Liz-sensei," I said hesitantly.

"Then let's head to the office. I have a lot of things to check over and I don't want you to be late for your tests," she said with a smile on her face.

We began to walk to the office. A few moments passed as I realized how well this school actually mimicked the human world. I never really was able to appreciate the details until now since most of my time here has been spent trying to survive or just simply getting through the day. Though, I did feel that some of the designs made it feel like the school celebrated Halloween on a daily basis. The school only looked like a fortress on the outside, but inside I saw that the school was built with the same structure as most of the schools I visited and went to in the human world.

Liz-sensei snapped me back to reality when she asked me, "Did you hear about Komiya-kun yet?"

I guiltily looked away. I knew she already knew I had something to do with the incident two days ago. Though she knew that I already knew, she continued to act as if she didn't know.

"I heard that over the weekend, Komiy-kun was found in his monster form and with his head frozen."

I was curious as to what happened to him after I had just left him there that night. I was worried about whether or not he was going to be fine after having his head frozen so long.

"So what happened to him?" I honestly asked.

"Welllllll, I heard that the new safety committee officers from Fairy Tale were the ones who found him. They apparently punished him severely for breaking the rules and he will be in the hospital for awhile. Sadly, his punishment was a lot lighter than what he would have received a few hours before."

I was glad that Komiya-san was still okay, but Liz-sensei had pointed out a disturbing fact to me. An orc was beaten so badly that he can't come to school, and his punishment was a light one for this school's standards. This fact made me wonder how cruel Kuyou must have been in order for a stay at the hospital to be considered a blessing. This mystery also made me wonder if Kuyou would really just let things go as they stood now.

"I'm glad to know that the new safety committee is doing their job and are acting leniently as you say they are," I said as I pondered what a harsh punishment was.

Looking to my left, I saw the Liz-sensei was no longer smiling. She was giving me a stare as though she wanted me to spit something out. This nurse really wanted me to admit that I was involved didn't she. She continued to prod me with questions to get me to talk.

"Did you hear that the committee also looked into why Komiya-kun was found in such a state?"

I didn't tense up because I already knew the rules fairly well. I hadn't violated a single one, so I had no reason to feel guilty.

"Really? Did they find anything interesting?" I asked nonchalantly.

I could see a look of disappointment in her eyes. It seems that she really was trying to get me to confess. Despite the disappointment, I could see that she had something up her sleeve.

"They did. They found several bits of glass around. The committee determined that Komiya-kun had attacked someone and they used some ice potions for self-defense. Because of that they decided to drop the issue, but it seems they are starting to look for people who frequently buy the potions now."

I could actually start to feel sweat start growing on the back of my head. How did I manage to pop up on the new PSC's radar when I wasn't even at school since the incident? It also looks like I need to be more careful in using the ice potions. I really did not want to have to deal with the PSC trying to take away my only real weapon at the moment. Liz-sensei resumed speaking seeing at how little my thoughts had actually shown through my actions.

"In any case, I'm just glad that no one really got hurt… or at least not the point that they had to come see me during the weekend!"

I felt a light jab at my ribs. Liz-sensei was angry that I had gotten injured again and so soon after I had promised her that I would watch myself. Though the jab sent a wave of pain throughout my body, I managed to keep walking and only show a slight shudder. I don't even know why I was still trying to hide the fact since we both knew what was going on. Was I really that much of a sore loser that I didn't want to show Liz-sensei that I got hurt?

"You're pretty good at hiding things Aono-kun."

Liz-sensei was giggling at my desperate attempts to maintain my image. I could tell I was already falling apart.

"How long did you know that I was hurt anyways?" I asked with an exasperated gasp.

"Please don't look down on me. I knew the moment I saw you. No matter how good you are at hiding, I can tell after working at Yokai Academy. Do you even know how many injured students I have treated?"

She was confidently boasting her knowledge in reading injuries. Liz-sensei was good at her job if she knew mine immediately, but she did not seem the least bit remorseful about just hitting an injured student. Did I really make her that angry by getting my ribs fractured?

We were soon at the office when she resumed talking again.

"You know I just asked you to come to help me because I have something to help those fractured ribs right?"

"I got that impression after you told me that you knew I was hurt again."

"I'll get you the medicine if you would explain why you got yourself into another fight in your condition."

I saw that the nurse was no longer sporting a smile. She was now giving me a serious look. It was her job to care about the health of her students, and I was just making her life harder at the moment. I at least owed her an explanation. I looked at her and just told her the simple truth.

"I got into a fight with Komiya-san because I was trying to protect one of my friends from being raped. As much as I know it pains you to see a student get hurt, I would do it again because I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing I had just abandoned someone for my own safety."

I saw Liz-sensei just sigh and begin to scratch her head. I guess she was trying to decide between commending me for actually doing the right thing or scolding me for doing it with one foot in the grave. She just went in for a few seconds and came back out with a small vial.

"I'm glad that you are willing to do the right thing, but that sort of chivalry can get you killed quite quickly here. Anyways, here is the medicine I was talking about. It will speed up your ability to heal from those bone fractures."

I couldn't help but give a wry smile to her comment. She was right, but it didn't matter.

"Like I said, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just ran away," I commented as I took the medicine and gulped it down. It tasted bitter and I could instantly feel my sides warm up. Seeing as I wasn't needed to help with the inventory, I just turned back and started to head to class.

"Thanks for the medicine Liz-sensei and talk to you later."

"Oh before you go, have you decided what clubs you will be joining?"

I looked back to see that Liz-sensei had a small gleam in her eyes. She was definitely expecting me to join whatever club she was supervising. I just shook my head to tell her no.

"If you don't know what club to join, think about the pre-med club we have. I'm sure you would be an excellent practice model."

I just laughed at the last statement. It seemed like it would be a club that might save my life though. The only thing I was worried about was whether the medical techniques would kill me by accident.

"Why are you laughing Aono-kun? I really think you would be a good member of the club," she commented innocently.

"Nothing. It's just that I thought it was kind of funny how you said you wanted me as a practice tool rather than a member."

"But you do make the perfect person to be the dying patient. It would be really helpful if you became the practice example for the other students."

I get it now. Her gleaming eyes weren't for scouting a new member, but for someone who can be used for practice. I guess I got hurt so often that I would be a good real life patient that the members would have to deal with. Unfortunately for her, I planned on not having a monster accidently crushing my chest when performing CPR.

"Sorry Liz-sensei, but I think I am going to go for a club where the idea of me being hurt doesn't drift into people's minds too much."

My response just caused the nurse to scratch the back of her head out of disappointment. I resumed walking away when she called out to me once more.

"Even though I know it's probably pointless to tell you, just try to stay out of trouble okay?"

"I got it Liz-sensei."

I soon made my way out of the faculty building, and meandered to my classroom. As I rounded the corner to my classroom, I saw a small student with a cloak quickly vanish into one of the classrooms. She must have come early to get some time to think before the test too. The only thing that bothered me with the image was that the girl was much too small to be a high school student. It's not like it mattered though. For all I know she could just be really short or a real genius.

I finally made it to my room and sat down at my desk. Looking at the clock I noticed that there was still thirty minutes before school started. I could already hear some of the early students start walking onto the school grounds. I waited in that room quietly as students soon flooded the room in anticipation of what was to come.

The bell rang and Nekonome-sensei came skipping into class.

"Good meowning class. I hope you are all ready to take this assessment test meow. I just want to let you all nyah that though these test are to assess what you already know, they won't be added into your final grade. So don't worry too much meow. After the test, we will be having a club fair. I'll go into more detail after the test."

The papers were soon passed around and we all began the tests that would last the majority of the day.

Gin's Perspective

I can't believe that I can't have a booth set up because I'm the only member left. I figured that with Kuyou gone for who knows how long, the committee here would let me set one up.

Whatever, I just need to get enough members. The school won't be able to shut down the newspaper club as long as we have three members. The only problem was that I had to go find my prey now. It sucks at how much easier it is for clubs to attract people when they have a large stand to call out to the new freshmen. Writing isn't exactly a popular activity to begin with. The deadlines of making a paper on time only make the problem worse.

While thinking about who I would have to set my eyes on, a student came to mind. Aono Tsukune, the self-proclaimed human who humiliated that prick, Kuyou. Actually, I'm pretty sure he is human just from his smell. How exactly did he survive a fight with that tyrant in the first place? Whatever he did helped me. It felt so good to see Kuyou finally fall. The freshman probably has to deal with a lot of muscle heads aiming for the top, though Tsukune was probably well-liked by many students for doing everyone a solid.

If I could get Tsukune to join, I'm sure his popularity would convince some fine ladies to join the club. Worse possible outcome that could happen is having only his gal come to the club as well. That in itself wasn't too bad since I would still get to keep the club. The only problem now was actually convincing Tsukune to join the club in the first place.

I sighed. The only thing I could really do now was just go look around the other stalls. Maybe if they did such a bad display, I might be able to convince others that the newspaper club was worth a try.

Tsukune's Perspective

"Okay class. Test time is nyah over. Please pass the papers to the front."

I could hear a majority of the students let out a sigh of relief. Even though we had all been told to not take the tests too seriously, we all knew that it would be bad if any of us wound up scoring low. No one wanted to have a bad score be posted up for everyone to see. I shuddered at the thought of what Moka-san would do if she didn't get first. I got the slight feeling that she would consider murdering the students who actually did better than her.

Just as I was thinking off Moka-san, she passed her test to me. I saw a bored look. It seems that she just felt that the test was too easy. Looks like the casualties will be low when the results come out. I was about to chuckle at my own thought, but Moka-san shot me a small glare. She must have known me well enough to know what I was thinking and was about to do. As much as I ignored her pride, I thought it would be best not to laugh and confirm her thinking.

In the corner of my eye I saw Kurumu-chan had her head buried in her arms. She must have done really badly. I'll be sure to study with her next time.

Turning back so that I could hand the papers to Mizore-chan, I saw that she was already looking at me and giving me two thumbs up. I'm glad she did well on the test. It made me feel that my effort did pay off. The only thing that worried me was whether or not the look of happiness was just for passing the bar or because she actually did as well as I hoped she would.

After a few moments of shuffling and paper passing, all of the tests were collected. Nekonome-sensei counted them all and made sure that the number matched up.

"Okay class. Meow that all of the tests have been collected, let's talk about clubs. As you all remember, this school is designed to teach you to adapt with the humans. Because of this you are all required to join a club at this school. Meow before you all start asking why you have to join a club to understand humans, club activities do educate on the values that many humans hold dear to them. All of the clubs are centered on human made activities and many focus on stressing individual values. Some clubs emphasize furthering one's own abilities, while others focus on a group effort. But in all cases, the clubs are meant to be fun. So please visit as many clubs today so that you can get an idea of where you would like to spend a lot of your time here. Be sure to consider the newspaper club. I'm its advisor and we would really like to have more members."

I could actually feel everyone giving Nekonome-sensei a blank stare at how shameless she looked trying to recruit members for her club. Her desire for more members sounded more of a need than a want. I still wondered how fun the newspaper club could be. Thinking about it, wasn't Gin-sempai in that club. I guess I might as well take a look at his stall since I did promise to do so.

"Class is disimissed meow so go out and have some fun!"

With that, Nekonome-sensei skipped out of the room with the tests. Her exit also signaled to the three girls sitting near me to suddenly look at me expectantly. The first one to speak was Moka-san.

"So what club are you going to join Tsukune?"

We all just whipped our heads to look at Moka-san. As much as Moka-san and I were starting to get along, it just surprised everyone that she wanted to join the same club as me. Noticing the evident confusion in everyone's face, she just gave a small smirk before speaking again.

"I can't just let my meal ticket run too far away. How else will I get some fresh blood and watch you try to get out of your predicaments."

There it was. It was kind of sad that I have come to expect Moka-san to say something like that. It seems that her comment did nearly set something off in Kurumu-chan and Mizore-chan, so I hastily started talking.

"Well, I was thinking of joining a club that didn't have anything to do with sports or major physical activities. I was hoping to go for something where I could relax a bit."

I was getting a different look from all three girls from my decision. Mizore-chan was giving me an approving look. She knew I was human and that I had really thought things through. Kurumu-chan was looking with worried eyes because she was just worried over how bad I was already looking in a few days. Moka-san just gave me a bored look.

Unfortunately, the vampire quickly thought of something to get rid of her boredom.

"That sounds so boring for you Tsukune. You're a strong guy. You should be able to go to a fighting club and prove whose boss."

This comment was just pushing the other two over the edge. Moka-san didn't know that Mizore-chan knew I was human and that Kurumu-chan knew that I wasn't as strong as the rumors said I was. I guess she was expecting the other girls to act like fan girls and just edge me into proving my worth as a man. Not wanting blood to be shed, I interjected once more.

"In any case, let's all just go around and see what club we can all join okay?"

We were soon walking around looking for a club to join. Though Nekonome-sensei said that the clubs were focused on human activities, she was wrong. They were very loose interpretations of the real thing at best. Several of the clubs such as the photography club and chemistry club would have looked normal, but they weren't very convincing human clubs when the president of the photography looked like he sprouted out of a picture himself or when the whole premise of the chemistry club was to make love potions. Actually, the chemistry club sounded quite normal for a high school club after thinking about it a little more.

As I was thinking about what club I could actually join with the others, a large blonde haired student in workout clothes stood in front of me. He had weights in both of his hands and I could already tell what he had wanted.

"Are you Aono Tsukune?"

He asked me seriously. I really did not want to deal with another fight, especially with a monster who was so obviously focused on proving his strength. I tried to see if I could trick him into believing I was someone else since he might not have been all too smart.

"Ehhh, you mean that Aono-san? I actually get that a lot. Come on look at me. How could I be the guy with all of those rumors? I literally have one foot in the grave right now," I said as I tried to point out how impossible it was to be what everyone actually saw me as.

_Clunk Clunk_

I looked down to see he had just dropped both of his weights, which were now sinking down into the ground. I may have actually touched a nerve by trying to pull a fast one over this guy. He was cracking his knuckles and had a look of bloodlust in his eyes. He was starting talk once more, but his voice sounded more like grunts as he get ready.

"You can't fool me Aono-san. I'm Chopper Rikishi and I'm in the pro-wrestling club. Now, you are going to fight me right here and now."

I could feel the air slightly get colder as Mizore-chan seemed to get ready to help me. Kurumu-chan seemed to be looking for a teacher to interfere. Moka-san was just smirking as she watched me try to weasel myself out and failed to get out. I was half expecting her to actually try to protect her food from being crushed. There was no such luck. I just sighed at how uncontrollable my predicament was.

"I must say I'm impressed with how you try to get people to join your club Chopper-san. I would applaud you, but I only have one hand free. Still, I won't join even if you beat me in a fight. I already know I want to join something not involving a sports club."

My comment just made a vein pop up on the guy's head. He was shouting at me now.

"I couldn't care less if you joined! I just want to prove that I'm the strongest in this school!"

"Fine, fine. You can just say that you won. It really doesn't matter who holds the title of strongest."

He was getting red to the face at this point. It was a good thing that he was getting mad. I just hope he wouldn't kill me before I could reason with him to delay the fight until I could freely use my arm. He wouldn't be back for at least a year if I could convince him, though it might convince some others to come after me during my moment of weakness. It was definitely fortunate that he was one of those people who wanted to prove his strength. The pro-wrestler resumed yelling.

"You are quite the disappointment you know! I heard you were quite strong and saw you stand up to Kuyou's attack! Where is your sense of pride as a monster?"

"And where is your sense of pride Chopper-san? I wasn't lying when I said I had one foot in the grave. We both know that if we were to fight right now, I would lose badly. How can you claim to be the strongest if you beat the guy holding the title when he can't fight back?" I retorted in an annoyed tone.

I was hoping that my comment would have convinced Chopper-san to at least delay the fight long enough so that I could find a new alternative method of dealing with him. Unfortunately, the monster found a way around my argument.

"It's because you are about to die that I have to fight you now. I can't just let another guy take you down before I do."

It looks like nothing I could say would convince him to push off the fight. My plan to convince him to let me recover backfired because he actually knew I was a vulnerable target for others. Unless I could guarantee my survival, he would not back down. But with my record for getting into trouble and the group of friends I had, there was no chance I could get him to believe I would live long enough.

I saw that he was about to charge me. My hand was now holding onto the vials in my pocket as I wondered what kind of monster he was. The only thing that came to mind was a troll due to his size. Maybe if I could somehow get him to crush the vial in his mouth, I could win the fight without too much problem. The only actually problem was getting the potion into his mouth. I could try to do what I did with Komiya-san. Trolls and orcs weren't too different in terms of the concepts behind them. The problem was that orcs were smaller. The troll in front of me looked like he would move to slow to really be tripped up by the ice.

"Hey there! I've been look'n all over for ya Tsukune."

Everyone turned their eyes to the student who had just called out to me. The voice sounded familiar and I recognized Gin-sempai as he soon came out of the crowd. Chopper-san seemed to know the reporter as well. Chopper-san's aggression soon cooled as he directed his words to Gin-sempai.

"What do you want Gin? I have business with this freshman right now."

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Gin's Perspective

"What do you want Gin? I have business with this freshman right now."

I can't believe my luck. I was looking for Tsukune in this large crowd and he goes and makes another spectacle. Not only that, he made it a perfect way of attracting more members if he decided to join right here and now. It's not like he has much of a choice since he probably knew what I wanted.

"So Tsukune, have you thought about my offer yet? We would really like it if you could join us this year."

I was offering him safe haven from the troll he was facing. I could even smell that he was human and needed to find some form of safety. I still don't know how he managed to survive for so long with his human identity out in the open, but he still needed help. How could he possibly refuse my offer?

Tsukune was giving me a hesitant look, but I could see he wasn't against the idea of being forced into accepting my offer. He nodded his head in acceptance of the situation.

Riki was getting impatient over the conversation that was interrupting the fight. At least his anger was directed to me and not towards the human now. Even if Riki was strong, he wasn't too much of a threat compared to Kuyou. This guy just wanted to prove his strength and beat down anyone he may consider stronger than himself. It's really funny at how the whole school considers a human to be so strong.

"Gin, are you done yet? Because if you are, I'd like to fight this guy right now."

I gave a small smile and glare towards the pro-wrestler. This guy really didn't know when to layoff. I really didn't want to fight him either since I didn't want the newspaper club to appear violent. It might scare off some of the girls that might join. There was a line between cool and violent that I did not want to cross after winning the lottery in circumstances.

"As much as I'd like to have another story for the next paper, I'm not too interested in having someone attacking a member of the newspaper club. I'm sure that our human here could take you on, but that's just bad rep for us."

It was obvious that just delaying the fight was making him angrier, but he wouldn't come attacking us just yet. He may be simple minded, but even he wouldn't be stupid enough to go against 'two' strong monsters with one at the S-rank level and the other trending in the SS-rank level. At least he wasn't that dim yet. Riki might get the bright idea that he could take on the two of us to show just how much stronger he was than just the 'strongest' student standing next to me. I didn't want Riki to get any ideas, so I tried to follow Tsukune's logic before about waiting.

"I already heard that you are just scared that someone will beat Tsukune before you, but you should really consider how unlikely that is already. I don't know if you have noticed, but other than me, he does have another S-rank monster near him."

I directed my head to where the pink-haired girl was. I could sense the large amount of suppressed youki from her. She was probably the vampire that Tsukune encountered on the first day. The fact that she hasn't killed him yet and helped him after the fight with Kuyou was a pretty good hint that she was a friend of Tsukune's. It seems she did not like the fact that I had dragged her into the mess and was starting to bear her fangs at me. This girl was definitely a vampire if she was quick to blow a fuse. I tried to ignore the obvious aggression and continued to negotiate with Riki.

"Even if he didn't have us to look after him, he can still look after himself. Tsukune did manage to take out that delinquent student Saizou right after his public display last week."

The comment seemed to make Tsukune twitch. I thought I was just spouting bullshit to convince the troll that Tsukune wasn't in too weak of a condition to really die at any moment. No one actually knew what happened since Saizou had kept quiet. Sadly, I should have figured that Tsukune actually had something to do with the incident over the weekend. What was this kid made of to just jump into a brawl with a transformed orc?

In any case, it seemed to convince Riki that he could wait until Tsukune recovered from his injury. Actually, would Tsukune ever actually recover from the burn? I could see the blackened remains of what his hand was and the sling that was holding his arm up. He was just a human so his recovery should be nowhere near the level of a monster's.

The troll called out to Tsukune, "Fine then. We'll continue this some other time. So you better be prepared the next time I come after you." He just left afterwards and I could sense that Tsukune became much more relax.

"Thanks Gin-sempai. You really saved me back there."

I looked back at the human next to me. It's kind of hard to believe that this guy was able to intimidate S-rank monsters. The guy just seemed so weak, yet he still stood up to the PSC and stood his ground against people like Kuyou without wetting his pants.

The three girls that were standing behind him soon came up to us. I recognized the blue-haired one from the first time I met the boy in front of me. The pink-haired vampire also came up, but she had a scowl on her face as though she found something about my presence displeasing. It could have been because I dragged the proud vampire into a petty squabble. The purple-haired girl was new to me though. There was one common feature among the three, they were all very beautiful in their own way.

"Hey, I'm going to join the newspaper club."

They also all seemed to be close to Tsukune. What voodoo did this guy do to get so popular in just a few days? Actually, I can understand how the blue-haired girl and the purple-haired girl were interested. The only thing was how did Tsukune actually convince the vampire not to kill him and want to be around him to a certain extent. They were all new members and that was all I really was asking for in the first place.

"Welcome to the newspaper club. Since it's kinda noisy here, I'll leave the introductions until later. We'll meet in class 1-3 after school this Thursday. For now, I need to talk to Tsukune in private ladies."

I could see hesitant looks flash across the girls' eyes. Two of the seemed to not really trust me yet, and the other seemed to want to know what I had to talk to Tsukune in private. Couldn't really blame them though, I only talked to Tsukune twice and I already know he has penchant for getting in trouble.

Looking at Tsukune, I realized that he was staring directly at me. He didn't seem scared. I guess he either had real nerves of steel or already knew that we had to talk. It looks like he wasn't going to let my comment about him being human slip past his radar. He soon turned to the girls and started to reassure them that everything would be fine.

Tsukune and I walked away and soon found ourselves on the rooftop. No one else was here since everyone was either bustling in the halls for the club fair or going back to the dorms. It also looked like that the girls didn't follow since I couldn't hear or smell them.

"What is it that you wanted to talk to me about Gin-sempai?" asked Tsukune. He wasn't wearing a smile like he normally did. I could see him giving me serious look as he was trying to figure me out. He obviously knew that I had just used him as a piece of public advertisement and got what I wanted. Tsukune probably had an idea of what I wanted to talk to him about. I met his serious appearance with a question.

"Are you really a human?"

I already knew he was a human, but I really wanted to see how he would respond. I wanted to see the man that brought down two things I thought would never go down. I wanted to see what had managed to bring down a vampire's pride and what had overthrown this school's tyrant. I wanted to see what made this human more than a human. He was still giving me an analytical look as he responded.

"That depends. Are you really a werewolf?"

His question had shocked me, but I didn't show it physically. How did he know I was a werewolf? I was fairly certain that I was actually one of the students that managed to hide my identity fairly well. I even wore the silver necklace to throw people off.

"What makes you ask that?" I said to try to pass off his comment. If he was just getting his information from listening to other people, it wouldn't be a big deal. In fact it would make him a really good reporter if he could gather info so quickly.

_Pffft_

He was trying not to laugh. Something in my gut told me that his laugh was something you never wanted to have directed your way when he had such a serious feeling to him. It felt he was just toying with me at this point.

"Please Gin-sempai, the only rumors I hear are my own. Also you are not really good at hiding your monster identity."

Did he actually know what was going in my mind? How did he know I was hoping that he had heard rumors about my identity? How did he also know that I was thinking about how well I was hiding my identity?

I have to calm down. He's just a human so he couldn't have too many tricks up his sleeve. There must be a reasonable explanation for how he seemed to know what I was thinking. Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, it was impossible for him to have been reading my mind. In fact, the comments he made were the only two ways he could have figured out my identity. They were the only reasonable explanations for how he could get the information. I was so caught up by that laugh and his attitude that I nearly overlooked that fact. He was just using reasonable explanations to predict what I was thinking. Tsukune, noticing my small panic attack, continued to speak again.

"It was a pretty interesting idea to hang your one weakness around your neck. Most people probably wouldn't have thought you were a werewolf just from that."

"That still doesn't explain why you think I'm a werewolf."

Tsukune just sighed at this point. I could tell it was pointless to keep up the charades, but I was interested in how he managed to figure out my identity. What did he use to figure out that I was a werewolf if it wasn't from the rumors? The silver bit wasn't evidence and this was only the second time we had met.

"Your eyes were that of a predator Gin-sempai and you looked for the most opportune moment to strike. I could also tell you had a really sharp sense of smell since that would be the only reason why you would think I was human after I had survived a duel with Kuyou. I believe that Moka-san probably used my smell as the reason why she thought I was human. You also have a good sense of hearing. I could tell since your ears seemed to move a lot as if it were trying to locate a specific sound, such as whether or not my friends were following me. I just figured you were a werewolf from these traits and because you have a wolf's head as part of your disguise."

Tsukune had a really sharp mind. I can see how he managed to pull off some of the stunts that floated in the rumors. It wasn't that he knew everything right off the bat. Tsukune wasn't some kind of genius that was able to plan everything out ahead of time either. He just paid attention to small details and movements that indicated a person's very nature. That trait, coupled with his natural control of his appearance, allowed him to control the flow of conversations and how he was seen. It wasn't even that impressive for a trick, yet he turned it into such a strong weapon. The only thing that I could see preventing him from negotiating himself out of any situation was when his opponent was someone with a one-track mind like Riki.

Even knowing this, I still couldn't help but feel a bit cautious about what else he had in store. I just didn't know him well enough. The only things I had to go on were the rumors and how he was presenting himself. It was honestly a little scary because I had no idea as to what else this human could do.

I didn't want to test the waters anymore than I already had. Although I had just gotten Tsukune out of a mess earlier, he probably didn't want me pestering him too much. I had already found out what I wanted to find out anyways. I was also worried that if I made Tsukune too uncomfortable, he would withdraw from the club and effectively cause the three other girls to drop too.

"You got me there. Yes I'm a werewolf, and yes I know you're a human. I was just curious about what you did to get here," I stated reluctantly. I wasn't going to let him just walk away believing he had a complete victory.

He smiled at my statement. "Yeah, I'm a human. I'm really glad you seem to want to get to know me despite that," Tsukune happily replied.

It looks like he ended up getting a complete victory after all. I probably should have seen that coming considering how I have only seen and heard of him getting into fights with other students. Tsukune probably just needed to find something to get away from all of that. He wasn't like me during my freshman year.

"Can't really come to hate you when you got rid of that damn fox."

Just remembering what the PSC had done to the club last year made me cringe. I noticed that Tsukune did not initially know what I had been talking about. It looks like he wasn't able to figure out Kuyou's monster form before my hint. It also seemed like he saw me in pain, but left me to myself. I couldn't tell if he was doing so out of consideration. The only thing I knew was that he was going to find out eventually. The only thing I wondered was how Tsukune would find out.

After a few moments of silence, Tsukune seemed to want to end the awkward situation.

"Is it really easy to tell that I'm human?"

"Yes," I said flatly. He smelled like a human and he claimed to be a human. If it weren't for how gutsy he was, everyone would already know by now. Only an idiot wouldn't be able to tell that Tsukune was human once they got to know him.

The freshman was now laughing, but unlike before, it didn't fill my gut with dread. It was just lighthearted and felt somewhat refreshing.

"Mizore-chan said the exact same thing when I asked her."

"Mizore?"

I already knew that the pink-haired was probably Akashiya Moka from the rumors. Mizore was probably one of the other girls in that trio. It was probably best to know my new underclassmen's names since we were going to be in the same club. Maybe knowing who they are ahead of time may impress them.

Tsukune started to walk away and said, "I'd like to see how good of a reporter you are. See if you can find out your new members' names."

He knew it wasn't a hard task, but he wasn't going to give me the information. If I got anything from getting to know this guy, then I'd have to say that he wasn't boring.

I guess I should go and look for more members, though it looks like I may have missed my chance. Most of the students have probably joined a club by now. Maybe I should go see Nekonome-sensei and give her the good news instead. This club looks like it has a bright future if the other girls were as eccentric as this human.

Keito's Perspective

This is quite an interesting turn of events. It seems as though that Aono has joined the newspaper club. The vampire and two other girls seemed to have joined as well. They all seem quite close to him. Maybe I can take advantage of that. It would be great if I could torture one of the girls for a bit. It would break the boy and that werewolf's heart to see their friends in such a predicament. How to go about ruining their fun school life is the question.

Mizore's Perspective

I found myself watching the ocean as I sat on the cliff. I didn't know what else to do since Tsukune was really insistent about talking to sempai alone. It worried me a bit, but if sempai had any intentions of hurting Tsukune, he would have done so earlier. Sempai had even stopped the fight.

_Snap_

It seems that Tsukune was coming here again to gaze out into the sea today. Even though I thought this, I still put up my guard in case it was someone else. I wouldn't let myself be found vulnerable again. Looking back, I saw a familiar student walking up in that brown jacket. Tsukune seemed to be just as fine now as he was before he had left with sempai. I just motioned for him to sit next to me.

As I returned my gaze back to the red sea over the horizon, I heard Tsukune plop down to my left. It seems he wanted some time to just let the pass over. Hard to blame him considering that he had nearly gotten into another fight and right after the exams. At least he seemed to have found someone who was going to provide some form of shelter. I wonder how strong sempai was to have that much confidence to face down the pro-wrestler.

Several minutes passed as we just sat watching the horizon. I started to have a heavy feeling in my chest as I began to wonder if Tsukune was thinking about the girl. My worries didn't last long though because Tsukune decided to break the silence.

"Why do you look out into the distance Mizore-chan?"

I perked my head to his question. Why was he asking that now? I knew he was honestly interested, but I wanted to know why he was so interested. Tsukune must have felt that I was curious and started to explain soon after.

"I was just wondering what you thought about when you sat to look into the distance. It must be important to you if you are still coming here after what happened earlier."

My gaze soon turned back to the sea before I spoke to him calmly.

"It reminds me of when I was at my saddest moments."

My response made Tsukune turn to me in confusion. I did just tell him that being here made me remember bad times, and I was still here after going through a horrific moment for reminiscing about it. If I didn't know the whole story myself, even I'd probably think I was crazy.

I leaned against his arm before proceeding. He wasn't blushing or moving away. He probably thought I was just trying to cope with something instead of showing my affection right now.

"Even though it reminds me of the worst times in my life, it also reminds me of when I was happiest."

"Really? Could you tell me one of those times?"

Tsukune had returned his gaze back to the ocean. A warm breeze blew through, but I felt Tsukune give a small shiver in response. I guess the air was cold for him. I didn't want to keep him out too long, and I didn't want to disappoint him when he was expecting a story from me.

I got up, which attracted his attention once more. I stretched out my arm for him and simply said three words to describe one of the happiest moments I have had in my life.

"I met you."

Tsukune's Perspective

I could feel all of the blood in my body go to my head. Mizore-chan had just declared that I was one of the reasons why she was happy and had done so as the sun was setting behind her. The whole world was red and I saw the snow girl offering her hand to me.

The only thing that was off was the fact that she had the stoic face she always had. I couldn't see if she was blushing because of the light, so I couldn't tell if she had meant it the way I hoped for. The only thing I could gather from her face was a small light in her eye to indicate that she was happy that we met.

I didn't want to leave her waiting for me, so I took her hand. It felt cool like it had always, but something felt different compared to its usual feel. It felt a bit warmer. Was it just my own feelings messing with my head or was she actually nervous? I guess I would never know since she has a better poker face than anyone else I knew.

After hoisting myself up, we began the walk back to the dorms. I felt an obsessive need to keep part of my mind focused on the shadows. Even though it was unlikely for any students to actually be out at the moment, the female laugh I had heard before kept me on my toes. My intuition just kept telling me that these peaceful moments I was having would be disrupted soon. The only thing I could hope for was that I was the one to do so. At least I would know how to handle the situation.

Mizore-chan must have noticed my anxiety and she held my right hand. The shock from the cool touch had actually broken my focus and caused me to give her a small surprised look. She just gave me the same calm look as always, but I could see that her skin had a small hint of color to them.

"Don't worry Tsukune. I won't let anything hurt you," she assured me.

I felt slightly happy for her concern, but I felt something had dropped in my chest. Something inside me told me it wasn't right to have to rely on her to survive at this school. I guess it was my pride as a guy that was preventing me from openly expecting her to have to help me. For some reason, it made more sense for me to protect her than the other way around. Even if she was a monster, she still seemed so frail to me.

Just after thinking about how Mizore-chan was a monster, another part of me felt pained. My situation with Mizore-chan was just the same as my situation with Kurumu-chan. Even though Mizore-chan did know that I was human, something in my gut told me that I may never be able to have a real relationship with her. Even if we both wanted to have the same thing, what was stopping me from pursuing the relationship was also what stopped me from being with Kurumu-chan. I was human.

My life expectancy was already uncertain. The only real certainty of it was that it would be short considering how so many people had already tried to claim my life. There was even someone who was clearly plotting behind the scenes. I couldn't stand the thought of leaving behind my friends as it were. I didn't want to imagine what pain my lover would go through if I had decided to pursue such a relationship.

As my mind tried to organize how I should have felt about Kurumu-chan or Mizore-chan, we made it to the girl dorm's entrance. We parted silently. Mizore-chan left quietly because that was just how she was like, but I left the way I did because I felt conflicted over what I should do. I started to feel a small tinge of regret despite how I said I would never feel that way. I began to truly wonder whether or not it was really worth it to come here. Maybe I had taken the whole situation too lightly?

I slowly trudged the boy's entrance. There was a familiar figure waiting next to it. The pink-haired vampire noticed me and walked towards me. What was she doing waiting there? She was probably just here to get some blood today.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked curtly.

That was strange. I thought for sure she was going to demand me to give her some blood as though it was her right. This was only the second time I had seen her show me any concern for my situation. I just gave her a dumb look in confusion. My look made her slightly frustrated.

"Why are you so down Tsukune?"

Before I decided to talk to her, I realized that my conversation could be overheard by others out in the open. As open as I was about being human, I'd rather not convince more people to attack me. I was also going to spill something that I guess could be considered a weakness. I decided it would be better to confide in her in a more private area.

"Let's continue the conversation in my room," I responded.

The girl just nodded and we proceeded to my room.

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.

#2: Youki is demonic aura.

#3: Werewolves are weak to silver. They are one of the few things that they can't heal from too quickly.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Tsukune's Perspective

Both Moka-san and I found ourselves walking down the hall to my room. It was eerily quiet today and I haven't seen anyone yet. It was strange considering that it was the freshmen dorm. There would usually be at least a few guys walking by to get some convenience store food. Some would even just be chatting outside the room since most people didn't trust others enough to openly walk into another monster's territory without insurance of their safety. It could be that everyone was just tired from trying to find a club today. I guess it was a blessing since I didn't want to hear more rumors about me bringing a girl to my room. I was lucky to have avoided any rumors about going to Mizore-chan's room.

We soon came upon my door and entered my room. After locking the door, I turned around to see Moka-san leaning against the wall. Her arms were folded and she had her hair moved to one side in order not to have it pressed against the wall. She was giving me a look that demanded to explain what was so important that I had to speak in the safety of my own room. Moka-san even seemed to wonder if I had to really lock the door, though she didn't seem to consider that it was a habit I was developing ever since coming here.

"I'll get straight to the point Moka-san. The reason why we had to talk in my room was because my problem has something to do with the fact that I'm human."

Although I had tried to say it as flatly as I could, I could hear a sound of slight depression laced within my voice. I guess that my problem was really that big if I had difficulty composing myself. Moka-san took note of this sound in my voice. I could tell since I saw the corners of her mouth give a slight twitch. I couldn't tell if it was for irritation over how simple it sounded or if it was for a slight amusement at my troubles. It could be for an entirely different reason for all I knew. It seemed that she was waiting for me to go on as she remained silent for a few moments.

"How long do you expect me to live?"

"Since when were you so afraid of death?" Moka-san asked with an obvious frown on her face. It was clear that she had a large distaste for anything indicating weakness. I just never expected that she would actually feel anything about other's weaknesses.

"I became afraid of my own death when I realized that it would hurt people I cared about," I stated with a sad tone still evident in my answer.

This caused Moka-san to give me an inquisitive look. Even though I did tell her that I was alone in the human world, she still knew that I probably still had family there. She was probably wondering how my situation had changed compared to the first day. In most situations, my death would have an effect in the human world. Even if I didn't have friends there, it should still cause a stir in my family. I didn't want to keep her confused for too long, so I explained why my death was not as much as a problem before.

"When I came here, I had to sign a contract with Mikogami-san. The basic gist of it was that if I were to die without revealing the monster world to the human world, my existence would be erased from the human world. At the time I thought it was a blessing because I would get to go to the monster world with no repercussions. If I survived, I got to see a hidden world that I had always believed in. If I died, no one would miss me because no one would even remember me."

I could see something flash across her eyes during my explanation. I saw a small glint of murderous intent when I mentioned the priest by name. She must have really hated him for some reason. It was only for a moment and was soon replaced with an expression of understanding. I at least thought it was an understanding look. It was hard to tell since I had never thought that the day would come so soon when she would even consider listening to my problems.

"But now you have friends in the monster world that actually care a lot about you," she interjected. At least I knew that she knew where I was going with the conversation. She continued to talk and said, "But why are you so concerned? Just don't die now that you have something precious to you."

I just gave a wry chuckle from hearing her comment. Maybe she was actually starting to forget that I was a human. I was clearly battered up and she was brushing my injuries off.

"Moka-san, do you know how many fights I have gotten into in the short time I've been here?"

"Assuming what that werewolf said was true, three so far," she stated confidently.

"It was four Moka-san," I stated flatly. My statement caused her to only raise her brow wondering how she had counted wrong. She was probably only thinking about my confrontation with Kuyou and the two fights I had with Komiya-san. I didn't want her confusion turn into frustration over not being able to figure out what the fourth fight was.

"Though you may have not considered it a fight, you were quite aggressive when we were arguing on the first day," I said while pointing at her. My comment had made her turn her head slightly as she tried to shrug off the blame. Did I miss something? Since when was she so patient with me? In any case, just talking to her made me feel a bit better. Even though talking to her did make me feel better, I still far more depression hit me over talking about this.

"Now out of those fights, how many do you think I would have come out alive if things hadn't worked into my favor?" I asked her seriously.

"Probably all of them, but you weren't so concerned about the consequences for the last three. If I recall, you jumped into at least two of them. I'm going to assume the third one you did as well," the vampire stated calmly.

"I had to do it Moka-san," I said as I bitterly looked to my left arm. I began to wonder how my life would have turned out if I was more cowardly or more flexible with my morals. I resumed talking again.

"If I had let Kuyou stay where he was, I don't know how many would continue to suffer. Besides, he would have come after me again and again had I just let him go. It was the most opportune moment to remove him from power. As for Komiya-san, he was going to go after another girl if he couldn't get you. I had to stop him and I nearly died from having to deal with his real form."

"And he went after one of the other girls that are your friends now," Moka-san stated with a neutral tone. I could tell she was a bit startled over how I went face to face with a fully transformed orc. It was one thing to go against a monster in its suppressed form, but an entirely different matter to fight one in its true form. I'm glad that this fact wasn't lost upon her.

I nodded to her response and proceeded to the heart of the matter.

"In the four days I have been here, I got into a one-sided fight with two S-rank monsters and fought an orc in his human and transformed state. I even nearly had to fight a troll today when I had almost no real way of defending myself. I am even quite certain that there is someone in the shadow actually plotting how to bring me down. At the rate I'm going, an extra three years seems to be beyond my reach."

I wondered how I must have looked to Moka-san. I must have looked like someone who has lost all hope. I could hear how despondent I was through my own voice.

"Then just get stronger Tsukune."

The vampire's response made me look up from my arm. Moka-san was no longer on the wall, but was walking up towards me. Her expression was hard to describe. It had a look of disgust over how weak I sounded, but it felt as though she was genuinely concerned about my situation. Her comment only made it harder to tell how she was feeling. She sounded as though she was encouraging me to go on, yet at the same time, it sounded as though she didn't understand how ludicrous the idea sounded. I felt frustrated at how it seemed like she was just passing off the fact that I was weak and holding me up to her standards. I felt frustrated that she expected me to live up to standards far beyond my reach.

"But I'm human. No matter how much stronger I get, I'll probably never become strong enough to stand my ground in this world for much longer," I bitterly said. It hurt a lot when I was falling short of the girl's expectations. She wasn't looking at me like I was an inferior existence, but as someone who was genuinely important enough to get her attention. I was already letting her down.

I saw her stretch out her arm to my face. The next thing I knew, I felt a strong and small impact on my forehead. It hurt quite a bit and had actually caused my head to bang into the door a bit. She just flicked my forehead. What monstrous strength was she actually hiding? I only gawked at her in my dazed state.

"I thought you said that people were people. Being a monster or human didn't matter to you. Don't you still believe that Tsukune?"

Though there was still stinging on my forehead, I tried to register what she was talking about. I do recall saying that, but I was talking about making friends. At the time I wasn't talking too much about becoming stronger.

"Of course I still believe that Moka-san. But we are talking about limitations at this point. No matter how clever I am or what tools I can make from the convenience store, I still can't get by the fact that I'm going to be completely outclassed in a fight. Eventually I am going to have to deal with someone beyond my capabilities to fight back," I weakly said.

"Who said anything about you having to fight everything that comes your way?" Moka-san asked me.

Moka's Perspective

Tsukune eyes looked confused over my statement. I wasn't even too sure about what I was talking about. I never had to rely on others to survive, and I didn't need to. I was a vampire. The very idea of needing help from others was foreign to me. Why would I ever need the strength of others to get by?

But Tsukune was weak. He may have been able to do some amazing things, but he was starting to realize his place on the food chain here. Although I had wanted him to know his place, seeing him so down didn't feel right. It reminded me of how wrong it felt to see him beg before. Tsukune felt more natural when he was standing tall and going against odds no sane person would take.

"Very few people can actually go against the world by themselves, especially when the world is not the one you are from. I couldn't cope with it in middle school. If I couldn't do it, then you shouldn't be able to either," I stated calmly, but wondered why I was comparing myself to a mere human. Why was I comparing myself to someone I saw as food?

I heard a sigh escape Tsukune's mouth. It was the first time I was trying to comfort someone, and it wasn't going well. I would have figured that Tsukune would have noticed that I was comparing him to myself and taken it as a compliment. It was sickening to see him so down, so I continued to speak once more.

"But unlike me, you managed to make friends. I could sense that your friends were interested in protecting you as well. You even managed to get two S-rank monsters by your side."

Tsukune was looking up at me. Unlike before, his eyes started to look like they had more life in them. It was nice to see that he wasn't as depressed as before, but it still seemed like something else was bothering him.

"You may just be a human, but you're not alone here. I know you have some sort of attraction to dangerous situations, but just remember that you do have people to rely on here. It's okay to rely on others. Not doing so just defeats the purpose of having friends in the first place," I resumed.

My last statement brought a small smile to his face.

"You look kind of pale Moka-san. Do you want some blood?"

This guy better have been trying to show his gratitude or I was going to just suck him dry right here. I was trying to help him and stood out on a limb for his sake. Was this guy just trying to get on my nerves today?

He was offering the side of his neck at this point and I could smell it. The scent made my previous frustration fade and drew my face closer to his neck.

"Itadakimasu," I said quickly before sinking my fangs in. I felt a quick tremble from the initial bite, but it quickly disappeared as I continued to eat.

"Thank you for talking to me Moka-san."

He had only whispered it, but because I was so close, I heard every word clearly. It sounded warm and genuine. It wasn't the courtesy thank you from doing small tasks like delivering papers to teachers. It wasn't something just said. Tsukune was the first person to ever truly thank me.

Why hadn't I been able to be friends with someone like him in the human world? Why haven't I met anyone else who was this honest? Why was this the first time I even cared how another person felt outside of my family?

Tsukune's Perspective

Moka-san soon released her bite. I felt my neck and noticed that the bite marks weren't there like last time. I looked at Moka-san's face and saw that she seemed to be quite happy about getting to drink some fresh blood tonight.

"I might be addicted to your blood Tsukune," Moka-san stated with a small smile on her mouth. Her smile told me that she wasn't kidding to scare me, but that she may actually consider bleeding me dry. Despite the obvious danger, I still felt that it would be safe to be around her.

After a few moments, I let her through the door. I was about to close the door, but she called out to me.

"To answer your question about how long I thought you would live, I thought you would definitely survive long after high school."

After saying what she had wanted to say, she just left. Having nothing else to do, I walked back into my room and prepared to go to sleep. As I was doing so, I looked into the mirror. I needed to find a way to get my left arm back.

I pulled my blackened arm out of my sling and focused on my image. Liz-sensei said it would take a long time to heal, but I needed it to get better now. I'll try to at least get it to the point where I didn't need the sling anymore. Although my attempts probably wouldn't work, it was worth a shot.

I began to raise my left arm, or at least I attempted to. My first few tries yielded no results besides convincing me that my arm was in a worse state than I may have given it credit for. I had focused to do such a simple task and the most response I received back was a few small tremors. The only reason why I bothered to continue for the night was because after every attempt, the tremors grew larger in size. The effort I was actually exerting was causing me to start sweating.

After who knows how long, I managed to get my arm to move forward. I also noticed that I was tightly gripping with my hand, which I was told wouldn't be really possible. It looks like Liz-sensei may have been wrong when deeming the limitations my arm had. It was either that or I had amazing recovering ability. It was a possibility since I didn't know what side effects there were from taking the monster medicine. For all I knew, they could have added magic that was far more effective for humans. It was doubtful, but something I would like to believe in.

I spent the rest of the night to get my arm back to normal shape. After all of that time, I managed to get free range of motion with my left arm. The only thing that I wasn't able to fix was the fact that I wasn't able to put any strength into my left arm and I still couldn't swing it. Considering how bad it was before, it was probably nothing short of a miracle that I was able to get my arm back to this point.

It just made me wonder how I was able to get it back in almost a night of trying to rehabilitate it. Maybe it had something to do with the small amount of saliva that came from Moka-san feeding off of me. That was also another explanation since my arm had shown no sign of recovery before tonight. It didn't matter since it seemed like I might be able to get it back to a reasonable state a lot sooner than anyone would expect. It was getting late and I just wanted to stop thinking after straining myself trying to lift my arm.

Dream Sequence

I could hear crying in the distance again. The sky was dark again, but I realized that it wasn't the sky. There was a roof above me. I guess that I wasn't outside before either. The room was still too dark to make out any details of the ceiling above me other than the fact that it wasn't the sky. I could see a bit more clearly than last time, but everything was still too dark to make out. As I got closer to the crying, a fragrant smell drifted to my nose. Another smell reached my nose as well. There was a strong scent of iron in the air. I grew worried over the smell and ran towards the sound once more. Like before, I felt myself lose consciousness as I got closer to the sound.

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.

#2: To anyone who is probably going to question why I made Tsukune recover so quickly, it will be explained in PLOT DEVELOPMENT (much much later in the story).

#3: Shortest chapter yet. Also there won't be updates for a while because I have to take my college finals soon. The next update will probably be in about two weeks, give or take a couple of days.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Tsukune's Perspective

_Knock Knock_

"Yahoo, are you still there Tsukune-kun?"

I felt myself roll off of the bed with a loud thud as I desperately tried to get up. The sound of Kurumu-chan's voice made me recall having slept in Mizore-chan's room before. I groggily looked around the room to make sure that I was actually in my room. Looking around, I saw that the room lacked any brushes or extra mirrors that I would expect in the girl's dorm.

_Knock Knock_

"Tsukune-kun, are you ok? There was a loud bang," Kurumu-chan called out to me from behind the door.

Why was she here so early? She was going to disturb the other guys if she kept knocking and probably start a rumor about me if someone saw her outside my door so early. I walked over to let her in.

"Morning Kurumu-chan. Why are you here so early? School doesn't even start for quite awhile," I said with a yawn.

"I know. I was wondering if you would like me take make you breakfast. You can't get better if you only eat the convenience store food," the succubus said while looking at my left arm.

It hung limply to my side since I wasn't focusing trying to move my arm. I thought about moving it to show Kurumu-chan that I was already getting better, but I really doubted that would have deterred her. That being said I was actually really happy that such a pretty girl was coming over because she wanted to make me breakfast.

Not wanting to leave her standing in the hallway, I let her in. I also took a look outside and noticed that there were no guys walking in the halls. Even if it was early, there should have been someone walking about. There wasn't even so much of a sound except for me and Kurumu-chan. It was just possible that I was being paranoid and that everyone was just resting after going to club for the first time.

After checking the hall, I walked back in to find Kurumu-chan already starting to make some breakfast and whistling to a tune as she worked. The only odd thing was that she had her wings and tail spread out behind her as she was doing so. I would have made a comment about her appearance, but it was my room and I already knew what she was since the first day. There was also the fact that she came here to make me breakfast, so who was I to complain?

"Is there any reason why you wanted to make me breakfast Kurumu-chan?" I asked as my curiosity started to wake up.

"Because I couldn't wait to see your face **Darling**," she teased.

"Careful **Honey**, you may scare of your potential Destined One."

"But my **Love**, you wouldn't run away from me," she said as she looked back at me.

What she saw wasn't me smiling. I was frowning now since I knew where the conversation was going to head, and I couldn't see any real possibility of it going well. Her response ended up making me sit down next to the chabudai.

"Kurumu-chan, we really need to talk about this Destined One thing," I said wryly.

I didn't even look at the kitchen to see how she was taking my response. I heard the clattering of the pans and the slight hiss of the fire to indicate that she had resumed cooking. After a few minutes, she finished and carried out everything to the chabudai. I looked up to see that she wasn't smiling, but she wasn't frowning.

"Kurumu-chan, you should go find another guy," I said firmly.

"Are, are you rejecting my feelings?"

"Yes I am."

"Is it because… you don't like me?"

Kurumu-chan was looking at me intently. Her face was eating away at my insides over how badly I was hurting her. The corners of her mouth were curved down and her eyes were starting to appear watery. Her whole body was shaking. Kurumu-chan's hands were both balled up into fists.

Though I wanted to tell her that that wasn't it, I knew what I had to say. If I said anything to show her how I really felt, Kurumu-chan might still hold romantic feelings for me. I didn't want to even imagine what she would have felt if I ended up dying early. Even knowing this, I couldn't look her in the face.

"Yes Kurumu-chan. I don't hold the same feelings as you do. Besides, I may not even be your Destined One. You might just be mistaking the fact that I try to get to know you as a reason to love me. There are plenty of other guys who would do the same. I don't see why you are interested in me in the first place," I said weakly.

I really didn't want to look at Kurumu-chan right now. I was trying to destroy any potential for us to be together. Even though I was less shaken up by my announcement due to the fact I never believed it was possible, Kurumu-chan had an actual interest. She was my first friend here, and I didn't want to see the results of what I had done.

I had hoped that the discussion would more or less end. More likely to end with a few harsh words from her, but end nonetheless. Unfortunately for me, my plans don't always pan out exactly as I envision. Kurumu-chan grabbed my face and directed my gaze into her own. She wasn't about to burst into tears, but looked quite a bit angry.

"Don't lie to me Tsukune-kun. I noticed that you tend to speak more weakly when you are trying to hide something. I know that you must feel something for me."

"I'm… I'm not lying…"

Although I said that with as much conviction as I could, even I knew that I was stuttering and had trouble raising my voice. No one would have been able to believe what I said. This conversation wasn't going to end anytime soon.

"See! There you go again. Don't make me pull out the truth from you," Kurumu-chan said with a slight tone of annoyance and her tail hovering next to my head.

I remained silent. There was nothing I could really say. There was also nothing she could really do to get the information out of me. Kurumu-chan did say I had an immunity to her charms, and I really doubted that she would try to torture me.

Her tail touched my head, and Kurumu-chan vanished from my eyes in an instant. I felt almost all of my consciousness slip and then form. My entire body became limp and my vision blurred. My entire existence felt numb, but it was replaced by a whole stream of images and words. This wasn't a charming ability for sure.

"Tsukune-kun…" Kurumu-chan's voice echoed.

My mind swirled around to find out where the sound was coming from. Instead of finding her, I saw several memories floating past me. The more recent ones were circling around me. Out of curiosity over what I was experiencing, I prodded a stream with a portion of what I assumed to be my mind. I had prodded the stream showing how I had first met Mizore-chan. The instant I did, I could feel my back ache, but it quickly cool down. I could even hear my own thoughts that had passed through my mind. It was like I was reliving the experience.

Kurumu-chan had said something about pulling the truth out of me. I had naturally thought that she meant she was going to try to charm me. Kurumu-chan was a succubus and many myths held them as a type of dream demon. I drifted around in what I was pretty sure was my own mind during the dreaming state to look for her. As much as I trusted Kurumu-chan as my friend, it was a bit unnerving to know that someone was poking around in my mind and possibly reliving my life.

I eventually found a pair of leathery wings attached to a blue-haired girl drifting along a stream of thought not too far from where I was. Judging from the images, it looked like she was trying to find out if I had slept with Mizore. Judging from the yahoo I heard from her, I guess she realized that I just passed out and didn't do anything with Mizore.

I tried to speak out to her, but realized that I was actually incapable of speaking to her. I tried to see if my thoughts would echo in the state I was in. There was no luck. The only thing I could think of to get the succubus's attention was to just charge straight into her and hopefully get her to realize I was there.

As I blasted through several streams of my own memories, I could see flashes from the human world. I saw what my life was like during the three years of middle school. It made me grimace over how ostracized I was. Although I already knew that the other students had heard rumors about my 'obsession' with the mythical since before the first day of school, it hurt knowing that I had actually given up trying to befriend many of the students. It was even sadder that I looked for hopeless strangers to keep me company while I ate at Aiya's. It was nice to see that many of the people I ate with started to pick themselves up and go back to their lives, but it was a sad thought to think I connected with those who were hopeless.

My parents' faces also appeared. They showed a variety of emotions. There were times when they were sad over how I didn't seem to be making friends at middle school. There were other times when they were completely angry over the fact that I kept insisting that monsters were real. They had scolded me about how it scared the other children. Their faces also changed into fear every now and then as they were reminded about what had happened many years ago.

I felt myself pass through many negative emotions, but I also passed many that felt nice. I remembered moments when my parents found out that I had managed to make it into several elite schools. I also relieved the moments when Mom actually cried tears of joy when she found out that I could go to the private school that was close to home. She had always seen me as a child and always wanted to be there for me.

That was one of the few times that I had felt happy during my time in middle school. I wasn't happy about getting into these high schools. The knowledge of me making it into the school was just another buzz of information that held no value to me. To me, high school would just be another place for people to be forced together and do activities. It was going to be just another place like middle school, but it had another name. What actually made me happy was not the idea of going to these schools, but actually seeing my mother show such a happy expression.

I also saw images of my father floating about in the same stream. Although there weren't as many images of his face to see, they were there. I only really saw three expressions in recent years. The image that I saw most was a tired expression since he was always swamped with work. It had been worse in recent years since a company called Fairy Tale was actually taking many of his clients or was trying to overrun many others. If it wasn't a tired expression, he would generally show his poker face. Dad never liked the idea of bringing his work into the house, but he couldn't stop his habits. Whenever there was a discussion about what we would do later, he would always put on that face. Dad never did like to lose an argument. Then a face that I only have seen briefly was his smile. He rarely showed it now because of work or because something came up. He didn't even smile when he heard I got into those high schools. When he gave me that smile after I had to explain why I wanted to go to Yokai Academy, I was almost walking on clouds.

I passed through another stream. It relayed information about my time in elementary school. It was the same as my experience in middle school for the most part. The only difference was that I had friends in the beginning. I could actually see myself laughing and playing with the other kids, but after a few years, I got caught in the incident.

I didn't want to recall my past right now and needed to get to Kurumu-chan. She was still sifting through memories involving her and Mizore. It didn't look like she had touched any of the streams involving anything before high school. The thought that she hadn't gone through many of my memories felt a bit relieving since I'd rather keep the past limited to conversation material.

I managed to make contact with Kurumu-chan, but it seemed that I just phased through. Even then, it got Kurumu-chan's attention as she stopped peering into my memories. Before I could try to get her attention again, she stuck her hand to where I was.

We were back in the real world after she had touched me.

"Tsukune-kun, I knew you were lying when you said you held no feelings for me," she said with a small grin.

"What was that?" I managed to gasp out.

The whole experience had made me feel a bit noxious. I always had a bad headache develop from having so much of my memories being touched upon. I was mad that my mind had been invaded, but only enough to be just upset.

"Remember when we had talked about how I was trying to find my Destined One? This is how a succubus does that. We can enter a person's mind and then look into his life from before we met him. We can also communicate with the person in his own mind and dreams using this," she said with a lot less excitement than before as she understood that I really didn't like what had happened. She was starting to look away now as she started to feel ashamed that she had to dive into my mind to talk to me. It was really hard to stay mad at her considering that I was trying to break her heart earlier.

"Look, I'm not angry. Just don't do that to me again," I said as I started to eat the breakfast she made to get rid of my bad mood. It was delicious, but it wasn't able to take my mind off of the fact that Kurumu-chan had invaded my privacy. I really shouldn't have held it against her so much since it was what her kind did to see if the guy they were interested in was their Destined One.

After a few awkward minutes, Kurumu-chan finally asked me, "Why is it that we can't be together?"

"You were in my mind. You should already," I said bitterly. Even without looking I knew that the comment hadn't come out the way I wanted and probably hurt the succubus.

"If it's because you are human, then you shouldn't have to worry. I don't care that you are a human Tsukune-kun. I really don't. It doesn't matter what mate we have. Having better genes has nothing to do with how well our daughters will live or how strong they would be. My people thrive on emotions such as passion. As long as there is a mutual love between a succubus and her mate, the daughter will grow up to be strong and happy."

"That's not the reason Kurumu-chan. It does have to do the fact that I'm a human, and the confusion over what you were looking for in a Destined One did have a factor. The main reason has to do with the fact that I don't think I'm good enough to be your mate."

"What do you mean you don't think you are good enough? I think I know who is and who isn't good enough for me."

"Look, I'm a human in a school of monsters. So far a monster has come after my neck every time I go to school. I'm pretty sure I'm not being paranoid when I say that I will probably die within the three years I'm here. Besides, your Destined One sounds like he is supposed to be your life partner. We've known each other for less than a week."

I was just tired of arguing.

"I've already made my decision Tsukune-kun. You may not be able to accept my feelings now, but I will stick to your side until you understand. I'll protect you as best as I can. Even if you say it is hasty, that's just how much I really want to be with you. So please, don't try to push me away okay? Just let me stay by your side and try to look past your own death. We can both get through this."

I just nodded. There was no sense trying to argue anymore. Pushing away would hurt her to the point that it wasn't worth the effort. Trying to push her away was also pretty taxing on me as well. If I hadn't tried to push her away, she wouldn't have dived into my mind. I may as well enjoy the time I have with her while I still could. Who knows? Maybe I will live past high school like Moka said.

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.

#2: Sorry if this chapter sucked. I like Kurumu as a character, but I hate her as a writer. I never seem to know what to write for her character since it is one of those awkward love/friend relationships.

#3: I also apologize how short this chapter was, but that's because of what is to come in the next few chapters. For those of you wondering about Yukari, she is coming up in the next chapter. Also, I'm not sure how many of you know, but I wrote another fanfiction called Eyes of Lilith. I hope you will read it, but I will admit it is quite a bit different from this one so I don't know how many of you will actually like it.


	15. Chapter 14 Version 2

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

This is a rewrite of the previous chapter. I figured that this version would have been better.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Tsukune's Perspective

_Knock Knock_

"Yahoo, are you still there Tsukune-kun?"

I felt myself roll off of the bed with a loud thud as I desperately tried to get up. The sound of Kurumu-chan's voice made me recall having slept in Mizore-chan's room before. I groggily looked around the room to make sure that I was actually in my room. Looking around, I saw that the room lacked any brushes or extra mirrors that I would expect in the girl's dorm.

_Knock Knock_

"Tsukune-kun, are you ok? There was a loud bang," Kurumu-chan called out to me from behind the door.

Why was she here so early? She was going to disturb the other guys if she kept knocking and probably start a rumor about me if someone saw her outside my door so early. I walked over to let her in.

"Morning Kurumu-chan. Why are you here so early? School doesn't even start for quite awhile," I said with a yawn.

"I know. I was wondering if you would like me take make you breakfast. You can't get better if you only eat the convenience store food," the succubus said while looking at my left arm.

It hung limply to my side since I wasn't focusing trying to move my arm. I thought about moving it to show Kurumu-chan that I was already getting better, but I really doubted that would have deterred her. That being said I was actually really happy that such a pretty girl was coming over because she wanted to make me breakfast.

Not wanting to leave her standing in the hallway, I let her in. I also took a look outside and noticed that there were no guys walking in the halls. Even if it was early, there should have been someone walking about. There wasn't even so much of a sound except for me and Kurumu-chan. It was just possible that I was being paranoid and that everyone was just resting after going to club for the first time.

After checking the hall, I walked back in to find Kurumu-chan already starting to make some breakfast and whistling to a tune as she worked. The only odd thing was that she had her wings and tail spread out behind her as she was doing so. I would have made a comment about her appearance, but it was my room and I already knew what she was since the first day. There was also the fact that she came here to make me breakfast, so who was I to complain?

"Is there any reason why you wanted to make me breakfast Kurumu-chan?" I asked as my curiosity started to wake up.

"Because I couldn't wait to see your face **Darling**," she teased.

"Careful **Honey**, you may scare of your potential Destined One."

"But my **Love**, you wouldn't run away from me," she said as she looked back at me.

What she saw wasn't me smiling. I was frowning now since I knew where the conversation was going to head, and I couldn't see any real possibility of it going well. Her response ended up making me sit down next to the chabudai.

"Kurumu-chan, we really need to talk about this Destined One thing," I said wryly.

I didn't even look at the kitchen to see how she was taking my response. I heard the clattering of the pans and the slight hiss of the fire to indicate that she had resumed cooking. After a few minutes, she finished and carried out everything to the chabudai. I looked up to see that she wasn't smiling, but she wasn't frowning.

"Kurumu-chan, you should go find another guy," I said firmly.

"No," she said flatly.

"Why not?"

"Because I know that you are my Destined One."

Kurumu-chan was looking at me intently. Her face was tearing me apart on the inside. On one hand, I knew that she would be miserable if I were truly her Destined One. By not trying to break up with her despite knowing my short life expectancy, I was effectively going to break her heart intentionally by leaving her behind. On the other hand, I was already trying to break her heart now when her feelings for me are close to being at the peak. In either case, Kurumu-chan was in for a heartbreak.

I figured that it was best to break her heart now than later. It just wasn't right to lead Kurumu-chan on when her people need her to find a healthy male to stave off extinction. The girl also deserved to actually find a guy that could appreciate who she was and could live long enough to care for her. I could not be that guy considering that I was a human who was already on the verge of dying in less than a week.

"Kurumu-chan, be reasonable. I may not even be your Destined One. You might just be mistaking the fact that I try to get to know you as a reason to love me. There are plenty of other guys who would do the same. I don't see why you are interested in me in the first place," I said weakly.

I really didn't want to look at Kurumu-chan right now. I was trying to destroy any potential for us to be together. It was even possible that I was going to break our friendship by choosing to reject the succubus. She had been my first friend in this literal 'godforsaken hellhole' that I love and call a school. Kurumu-chan didn't even try to eat or beat me to death. But she did try to turn me into a male puppet when I first met her. That was still better deal than what most of the other students offered.

I had hoped that the discussion would more or less end. More likely to end with a few harsh words from her, but end nonetheless. Unfortunately for me, my plans don't always pan out exactly as I envision. Kurumu-chan grabbed my face and directed my gaze into her own. She looked a bit hurt, but there was a flame of assertiveness in her eyes.

"Tsukune-kun, I know you are the one for me. I'm not going to give up on you just because you or anyone else said to. If you want, I can even confirm whether or not you are truly my Destined One."

"How do you propose to do that?"

I couldn't see how she could prove that I was her Destined One. Her charm abilities shouldn't be able to work too well on me considering I have some resistance to them. Even if she managed to charm me enough to take control, it would just make me a fairly empty husk. I was pretty sure that she actually wanted someone who would talk to her normally instead of someone who just did as she commanded.

"I have a few more tricks up my sleeve than just my charms. If we succubus didn't have something else other than charms, we would have gone extinct a long time ago," Kurumu-chan said with a slight grin on her face and her tail hovering next to my head.

I remained silent. There was nothing I could really say. I had no idea as to what she could do. I wasn't a monster specialist and could only go off of what I had read in mythology, which was clearly inaccurate since I saw vampires walking in daylight and evil inari's. The only thing that drifted in my mind was how I never understood how a succubus was expected to know who her Destined One was when all of the men surrounding her were mindless love zombies.

Her tail touched my head, and Kurumu-chan vanished from my eyes in an instant. I felt almost all of my consciousness slip and then form. My entire body became limp and my vision blurred. My entire existence felt numb, but it was replaced by a whole stream of images and words. This wasn't a charming ability for sure.

"Tsukune-kun…" Kurumu-chan's voice echoed.

My mind swirled around to find out where the sound was coming from. Instead of finding her, I saw several images floating past me. Looking at these colorful images, I noticed that they were moving as if they were showing a movie. They were more than that. They were images of my memories swirling about.

The more recent ones were circling around me. I saw images of Moka's anger as she smashed me into the chalkboard. The time when Mizore cooled my back also appeared and reminded me about how red the sunset was. I could even see my impending death when I fought Kuyou. The image was quickly clouded with a wall of clear, solid ice that came streaming out of the cracks in my hand, which was soon enveloped with tongues of flames that tried to crawl around the makeshift wall.

Out of curiosity over what I was experiencing, I prodded a stream with a portion of what I assumed to be my mind. I had prodded the stream showing how I had first met Mizore-chan. The instant I did, I could feel my back ache, but it quickly cool down. I could even hear my own thoughts that had passed through my mind. It was like I was reliving the experience.

Kurumu-chan had said something about pulling the truth out of me. I had naturally thought that she meant she was going to try to charm me, but that was clearly not the case considering what I was experiencing. Kurumu-chan was a succubus and many myths held them as a type of dream demon. I drifted around in what I was pretty sure was my own mind during the dreaming state to look for her. As much as I trusted Kurumu-chan as my friend, it was a bit unnerving to know that someone was poking around in my mind and possibly reliving my life. It would have been awkward if she found my private moments and accidently touched them.

I eventually found a pair of leathery wings attached to a blue-haired girl drifting along a stream of thought not too far from where I was. Judging from the images, it looked like she was trying to find out if I had slept with Mizore. The yahoo I heard from her indicated she realized that I just passed out and didn't do anything with Mizore.

I tried to speak out to her, but realized that I was actually incapable of speaking to her. I tried to see if my thoughts would echo in the state I was in. There was no luck. The only thing I could think of to get the succubus's attention was to just charge straight into her and hopefully get her to realize I was there.

As I blasted through several streams of my own memories, I could see flashes from the human world. I saw what my life was like during the three years of middle school. It made me grimace over how ostracized I was. Although I already knew that the other students had heard rumors about my 'obsession' with the mythical since before the first day of school, it hurt knowing that I had actually given up trying to befriend many of the students. It was even sadder that I looked for hopeless strangers to keep me company while I ate at Aiya's. It was nice to see that many of the people I ate with started to pick themselves up and go back to their lives, but it was a sad thought to think I connected with those who were hopeless.

The only thing that had really made my middle school life bearable was seeing many of those despondent faces change. All of the men and women that I had brought to Aiya's were usually fired from their jobs or had been left behind by those they had loved dearly. Even though I was just a middle school student and couldn't possibly understand the troubles they had gone through, many of them got better when they realized that there was always someone who was willing to listen to their story.

My parents' faces also appeared. They showed a variety of emotions. There were times when they were sad over how I didn't seem to be making friends at middle school. There were other times when they were completely angry over the fact that I kept insisting that monsters were real. They had scolded me about how it scared the other children. Their faces also changed into fear every now and then as they were reminded about what had happened many years ago.

I felt myself pass through many negative emotions, but I also passed many that felt nice. I remembered moments when my parents found out that I had managed to make it into several elite schools. I also relieved the moments when Mom actually cried tears of joy when she found out that I could go to the private school that was close to home. She had always seen me as a child and always wanted to be there for me.

That was one of the few times that I had felt happy during my time in middle school. I wasn't happy about getting into these high schools. The knowledge of me making it into the school was just another buzz of information that held no value to me. To me, high school would just be another place for people to be forced together and do activities. It was going to be just another place like middle school, but it had another name. What actually made me happy was not the idea of going to these schools, but actually seeing my mother show such a happy expression.

I also saw images of my father floating about in the same stream. Although there weren't as many images of his face to see, they were there. I only really saw three expressions in recent years. The image that I saw most was a tired expression since he was always swamped with work. It had been worse in recent years since a company called Fairy Tale was actually taking many of his clients or was trying to overrun many others. If it wasn't a tired expression, he would generally show his poker face. Dad never liked the idea of bringing his work into the house, but he couldn't stop his habits. Whenever there was a discussion about what we would do later, he would always put on that face. Dad never did like to lose an argument. Then a face that I only have seen briefly was his smile. He rarely showed it now because of work or because something came up. He didn't even smile when he heard I got into those high schools. When he gave me that smile after I had to explain why I wanted to go to Yokai Academy, I was almost walking on clouds.

I passed through another stream. It relayed information about my time in elementary school. It was the same as my experience in middle school for the most part. The only difference was that I had friends in the beginning. I could actually see myself laughing and playing with the other kids, but after a few years, I got caught in the incident.

I didn't want to recall my past right now and needed to get to Kurumu-chan. She was still sifting through memories involving her and Mizore. It didn't look like she had touched any of the streams involving anything before high school. The thought that she hadn't gone through many of my memories felt a bit relieving since I'd rather keep the past limited to conversation material.

I managed to make contact with Kurumu-chan, but it seemed that I just phased through. Even then, it got Kurumu-chan's attention as she stopped peering into my memories. Before I could try to get her attention again, she stuck her hand to where I was.

We were back in the real world after she had touched me.

"Tsukune-kun, you really are the one for me," she said with a small grin.

"What was that?" I managed to gasp out.

The whole experience had made me feel a bit noxious. I always had a bad headache develop from having so much of my memories being touched upon. I was mad that my mind had been invaded, but only enough to be just be slightly upset.

"Remember when we had talked about how I was trying to find my Destined One? This is how a succubus does that. We can enter a person's mind and then look into his life from before we met him. We can also communicate with the person in his own mind and dreams using this," she said with a lot less excitement than before as she understood that I was starting to feel aftereffects from the whole experience.

She was starting to look at me with a large amount of worry in her eyes. Was it unusual for people to have side effects from her ability? If this was how succubus determined their mate, I guess it really shouldn't cause too much of a health hazard. Kurumu-chan also looked scared that I would lash out at her. I must have looked upset over the incident because I really was. I shouldn't have been since I had pretty much been asking for it, but I wished I had a bit more warning as to what would come.

"Look, I'm not angry. Just don't do that to me again," I said as I started to eat the breakfast she made to get rid of my headache. It was delicious, but it wasn't able to take my mind off of the fact that Kurumu-chan had dived into my mind.

After a few awkward minutes, Kurumu-chan finally asked me, "Why is it that we can't be together?"

"You were in my mind. You should already," I said a bit bitterly from my headache. Even without looking I knew that the comment hadn't come out the way I wanted and probably hurt the succubus.

"If it's because you are human, then you shouldn't have to worry. I don't care that you are a human Tsukune-kun. I really don't. It doesn't matter what mate we have. Having better genes has nothing to do with how well our daughters will live or how strong they would be. My people thrive on emotions such as passion. As long as there is a mutual love between a succubus and her mate, the daughter will grow up to be strong and happy."

"That's not the reason Kurumu-chan. It does have to do the fact that I'm a human, and the confusion over what you were looking for in a Destined One did have a factor. The main reason has to do with the fact that I don't think I'm good enough to be your mate."

"What do you mean you don't think you are good enough? I think I know who is and who isn't good enough for me. I just went and saw a whole side of you when I entered you mind."

"Look, I'm a human in a school of monsters. So far a monster has come after my neck every time I go to school. I'm pretty sure I'm not being paranoid when I say that I will probably die within the three years I'm here. Besides, your Destined One sounds like he is supposed to be your life partner. We've known each other for less than a week."

I was just tired of arguing.

"I've already made my decision Tsukune-kun. You may not be able to accept my feelings now, but I will stick to your side until you understand. I'll protect you as best as I can. Even if you say it is hasty, that's just how much I really want to be with you. So please, don't try to push me away okay? Just let me stay by your side and try to look past your own death. We can both get through this."

I just nodded. There was no sense trying to argue anymore. Pushing away would hurt her to the point that it wasn't worth the effort. She was deadest on making me her mate and had used the succubus's method for determining that I was the one for her. Trying to push her away was also pretty taxing on me as well. If I hadn't tried to push her away, she wouldn't have dived into my mind. I may as well enjoy the time I have with her while I still could. Who knows? Maybe I will live past high school like Moka said.

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.

#2: Decided to rewrite this chapter because I felt the original version sucked. The current version is what popped into my head after the first posting and just adding some parts to the original. Hope this is more enjoyable than the original version. I'll keep the original and let you guys decide if I should continue the story based on this version or the original.

#3: Kyuubi is a nine-tailed fox. You all should probably know this from just Naruto, but this note is just here for those who don't actually like the series and don't actually know what it is. The larger classification of the demon would be an inari (fox) that typically serves as a deity of success in general. They are the exact opposite of Kuyou's taste for destruction, torture, misfortune, etc.


	16. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

Due to the reviews, the second version of the previous chapter will be considered as the point where the story was left off.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Tsukune's Perspective

Kurumu-chan and I were now walking to school. I had decided to keep my arm in the sling so that I wouldn't attract as much unwanted attention. I may have been getting better, but the both of agreed that it wouldn't have been smart so show that off to people like the troll yesterday.

It would have been a nice morning, but there was an awkward air between us. Kurumu-chan had entered my mind earlier that morning and the process had given me a massive headache. I didn't really hold it against her too much, but the pain was making it hard to actually get that across.

Although the process was how a succubus was supposed to pick her mate, I wished there was a better way to find out. I was curious if getting a headache was a normal side effect since Kurumu-chan hadn't mentioned any before. The girl even looked quite a bit worried as though she wasn't expecting me to be suffering from her ability.

"Hey Tsukune-kun, I'm sorry for diving into your mind," Kurumu-chan said meekly.

"I don't really mind that too much. I was kind of asking for it."

I was scratching the back of my head at this point. It was actually really hard to continue the conversation. The image of Kurumu-chan apologizing to me was jus unsettling, and I never really enjoyed the idea of possibly losing a friend. The awkwardness continued for a few seconds before I just picked off a question off the top of my head.

"So how much of my past did you see?"

"Well… I really only looked into more recent events and some bits and pieces from middle school and elementary school. I still have a hard time believing that you became friends with bums on the streets. Weren't you worried about why they were bums?"

I just chuckled at her statement. She was asking what everyone was probably thinking when I did that the first few times. It was an unoriginal question, but Kurumu-chan actually asked.

"First off, they are not bums. Life just didn't hand them the greatest hand to play with or they just made a mistake somewhere. Second, I was worried and that was why I tried to help get them back on their feet," I said with a small smile on my mouth.

Kurumu's Perspective

What was I doing? I dived into Tsukune-kun's mind to get closer to him. There was no point to going on the offensive if all I do now was shy away. Tsukune-kun was even trying to brush off the incident. There was no sense in running away from the man I wanted to be with. Mama always told me that things would click so long as I took things like this head on.

"Is there anything else you wanted to know about my past?" Tsukune-kun asked with a much lighter tone to what he had been using before.

"Actually…" I said while nudging closer to his side.

I felt a chill come from behind as I did so. I didn't pay much attention to it as soon as Tsukune-kun started to blush again.

Mizore's Perspective

I'm going to freeze that succubus one of these days.

Tsukune's Perspective

Kurumu-chan and I chatted about my past that she had found interesting for a long time as we walked slowly to the school. We had left early so time wasn't an issue. It was just nice to see that Kurumu-chan had gotten over the whole incident in the morning. Despite the pain afterwords, being able to relive my memories was an interesting experience in itself. That was when it had hit me.

"Kurumu-chan, there was one memory that I wanted to specifically see. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind diving in my mind at some point during the weekend."

"Does it have anything to do with your time in elementary school?" she asked with a small frown on her lips. I couldn't tell if she was frowning because she was worried over my health or because she found something worrisome when she had dived into my mind.

I nodded knowing that I probably wouldn't like the answer that Kurumu-chan was going to give me.

"I can't help you then. There seems to be something preventing me from going that far. I could break through the barrier if I was more used to diving into your mind. The only problem is that the barrier seems to be ridiculously strong, and could kill the both of us if a mistake occurred. What exactly happened to you?"

"I'm not too sure exactly. My memory is really fuzzy and I was hoping that we could find out more about it by reliving the experience. The only thing that I can recall was that I was caught up in something life threatening and a monster saved me," I said with my eyes drifting to the sky ahead of me in an attempt to recall as much as I could.

"Aha! I get it now!"

Kurumu-chan's response had startled me. Her response had also gotten my attention. I couldn't help but wonder what she had actually figured out. I had so many years to think of how to express my gratitude and find my savior, and I had failed. I had given Kurumu-chan a vague description of what had happened.

"You must have been saved by a succubus!" she had exclaimed with a small smile on her lips.

I just gave her a look of confusion over how she had come to that conclusion. She must have noticed because she started to explain to me what had exactly convinced her that my savior was a succubus.

"Remember how you have a resistance to charm spells? The only way to get a resistance to those is to either know the trick beforehand or be exposed to a powerful charm spell. Seeing how you were almost unaffected by my initial charm with no prior knowledge over my monster identity, you had to have been exposed to a charm spell," she stated with her voluptuous chest sticking out. Kurumu-chan must have felt proud over the fact that she was explaining something to me.

"But how do you know that it was a succubus that saved me? How do you know that it wasn't some other monster that is really adept at charms?"

Kurumu-chan hopped in front of me and gave me a pout before responding.

"Mou, succubus's are top class in charms when it comes to men. Sure there are other monsters such as vampires, witches, and djinn that can produce strong charms or similar effects, but their charm abilities don't compare to my people since it isn't their real specialty. The only monster who can possibly compete with a succubus is an incubus, but they can only charm women. The fact that I can't risk breaking that mental wall in your head makes it clear to me that a succubus with a lot more experience set it."

"I see, but doesn't that now bring up the question as to why an older succubus had to set her charms on me?" I said while scratching me chin.

It wasn't a serious question since I already had an idea of why my savior would have placed a charm on me. She was likely trying to hide the monster world from me since it was supposed to be a secret to the humans. The charm had also wiped away most of my memory of what had happened. There was still one question that still bugged me. How was I able to even recall that someone had saved me if I didn't even have my resistance to charms at that time?

I decided to stop thinking about it too much since it was all speculation in the first place. It was nice to know that my search was now limited to species that had the ability to charm me. I was still skeptical that it was a succubus since I had very little to work with and I didn't see how or why I would have caught the attention of a succubus when I was only a kid.

I also noticed that Mizore-chan had suddenly shown up by my side. Her sudden appearance had caught Kurumu-chan off guard, but I wasn't affected by it too much. We were entering the school. Mizore-chan was bound to show up at some point.

As we were about to walk to class, we noticed a large mass of students piling up at the bulletin boards. In the midst of the sea of green uniforms, I noticed that one of the uniforms sported a familiar pink-haired girl from class. The fact that Moka-san was focused on something that others also found interesting piqued my curiosity over what the fuss was about.

There was a lot of jumbled screams or quiet whispers. Most of the things that I heard sounded like numbers. It was obvious that the students were talking about ranks. Was it some sort of power ranking in the school? I wouldn't have been too surprised if it were considering the fact that most monsters seemed to appraise each other through their strength.

"Morning Moka-san. What's everyone so excited about?" I asked Moka-san when I had finally managed to get our group together.

Moka's Perspective

"The scores for the assessment exam are out," I said dismissively.

I didn't want to look at the boy at the moment. Our heart to heart chat yesterday had made it hard for me to sleep last night. Just thinking about him made me confused over how I was supposed to see him. I didn't even want to know how looking at him in my state at the moment would affect me.

I didn't know how to look at him because he was so different compared to what I had heard and experienced with humans. In fact, I was just confused over the fact that he was so comfortable being around me. The fact that I was a vampire made it so that every human just thought I was a bloodthirsty maniac and made it so that every monster thought that I was royalty or just look at me with disgust. Even among vampires, our kind saw each other based on how strong we were in comparison.

Tsukune was a human that just treated me as an equal. It was impudent of him. I could have easily crushed him. Despite the fact that I wanted to show him his place, something about him made it more fitting to see him struggle and fight for his life. His natural demeanor even made it hard to believe that he was a human. His natural ability to survive and character made it seem like he was a B-rank monster. If it weren't for the fact that I knew he was a human, I would have been convinced that he was actually a decently strong monster.

"Before you even bother trying to check in this mess, you got thirteenth, the purple-haired girl got twenty-first and I didn't find your succubus. I was kind of disappointed that you scored so low despite how you have such a silver tongue. I expected you to at least make it to the top ten," I continued.

My remark had caused the other two girls to scurry off to find out what the blue-haired girl's score was. Seeing as how only Tsukune and I were left, we tried to get out of the crowd. It was cramp and we both already knew where we stood.

"I never knew you thought so highly of me. Isn't thirteenth a great place for most people? I didn't even learn anything concerning monster culture until the day before the test," the boy said lightheartedly.

"I still expected you to make it to the top ten since that section was free response. I'm sure there was a way for you to word your way around the question."

"Oh? And what did the great Moka-sama get," he retorted.

"I got second…" I said as I turned my face away from him.

"What? And you haven't gone on a witch hunt yet?"

I ignored the fact that he was joking around. It wasn't hurtful and was quite an accurate depiction of what I would have done. There was just one thing about his comment that tripped me.

"How did you know that the person who got first place was a witch?"

Tsukune's Perspective

"I don't. A witch hunt is a human term…"

I was interrupted before I could finish my conversation with Moka-san when I saw several students surrounding a little girl in a witch's costume. Judging from how the three students wore an expression that contorted their faces, it seemed that they were about to attack the little witch. The girl was even backing away and none of the other students seemed to keen on helping her. The strange thing was that a lot of the students even seemed to be encouraging the three to continue.

Moka-san already knew that I was going to step in and grabbed my good arm. Her grip was tight and I could feel my bone creak ever so slightly. The vampire's action surprised me because it was like she was telling me to not get involved with my own safety in mind.

"Tsukune, don't sticking your nose into their business. I can almost guarantee that it won't end well for you if you do. It would just be best for you to ignore what is happening before you," Moka-san said while letting go of my arm.

"If I were to ignore what was happening before me, then no one will try to help her. If I were still to ignore the situation knowing this, I couldn't live with myself."

With that, I walked up to the group to confront the three guys. I could already feel several eyes from the audience turn to me. Some felt like glares, while others seemed to be amused. In any case, I was the focus of the situation now and got the attention of the three guys.

I could see that they all head reptilian like eyes and sharp pointed teeth. I could even tell that their skins were quite scaly. It was quite obvious that they were a lizard type monster that worked in packs.

"Is there a problem here?" I asked as I drew in close.

"It's just that this runt was getting all high and mighty for getting the top score. She's just a bratty witch that causes trouble to others. I was just thinking of showing little Yukari here her place," the leading lizardman said as he started to tower over me.

"That's pretty petty of you. You three are ganging up on her just because she did better than you on the exams. I can't tell who is supposed to be the brat here," I said to egg the three on.

"Of course it isn't about the score you dumbass. I just can't stand the fact that we have to study with the little bitch. She's a witch. Yukari is pretty much human and doesn't know her place," one of the other two lizardmen said with his eyes glaring at me.

The look that the three were giving me didn't faze me. I knew that wouldn't and couldn't do anything out in the open considering the fact that their argument seemed to indicate that they did well, but they were still below the witch. They had also fallen into the same trap that I had laid to Kuyou, so they must have been a prideful bunch to ignore such a basic trick.

"I think that all three have forgotten where you are. First, it is against the rules to start a fight over race, which you three have just admitted to in front of the entire student body. Second, this is a school to integrate the human and monster world together. By trying to harm Yukari, you defeat the very purpose of coming here considering the fact that you see her as 'pretty much human'. Third, I don't expect you to be able to survive that long if you try to harm her," I said while stretching and yawning.

"Oh? And what exactly are you going to do if we do decide to eat her? It doesn't seem like you can do anything in your condition," the third student sneered.

"Who said anything about me doing anything? I'm just warning you about the new PSC. They didn't take too kindly to the fact that Komiya-san was in his monster form. If I recall, he is stuck in the hospital for a good majority of the first semester now. They did that to him because he was in his monster form. I wonder what the PSC will do if you a murder a student over their race and go against the basic principle of the school," I said with a smirk.

With that, I saw the three's eyes quickly glance across the crowd. They must have realized that it would have been unlikely for there not to be members of the newly hired PSC hidden in the crowd. The incident was already becoming a spectacle and they were dealt a fairly bad hand.

If they decided to back away, they would be labeled cowards. On the other hand, being beaten to the point that they couldn't come to school seemed like a really stupid idea. They would have gotten some fame if they stood their ground, but fame was useless if they couldn't enjoy the benefits.

After a few moments, they must have decided that continuing wasn't going to get them anywhere. The three fled and I could hear a couple of footsteps coming from behind. I turned around and saw Kurumu-chan, Mizore-chan and Moka-san all getting closer. The rest of the students seemed to have gone back to doing their own business.

_Bang_

There was a sharp pain on the top of my head. I could even feel my consciousness start to slip from the sheer shock of what had happened. I dizzily looked around and saw that there was now a brass pan with an indentation the size of my head in the middle lying next to my legs. The pan also had a few words written on it that said, "I don't need help from a human desu."

I didn't register too much of what had happened afterwards other than Mizore-chan cooling the top of my head and Kurumu-chan fussing over the evidently large bump on the top of my head. Was Yukari's attack what Moka-san meant when she said that I shouldn't have stepped into the situation?

After we made it to class, the only thing I had heard was that a lot of male freshmen were now in the hospital due to having the life sucked out of them and the swim team was now under investigation. Before I knew it, school was already over. I wasn't too sure why I attended class instead of heading to class. My head really ached from having my mind dived into and being smashed into a brass pan. It was probably best if I went to see Liz-sensei.

Before I could get up to go see the school nurse, the door slammed open. As our attention was brought to the door, I got a sinking feeling in my gut. I just had no luck whenever someone came through that door unexpectedly. I was already three for three when it came to facing something deadly through that door.

"Is Aono-san here desu?" a small girl's voice called out to the classroom.

"Please don't tell me that you are here to challenge me," I said lackadaisically with everyone's attention directed towards me.

It was at the very instant that I finished my response that I felt the desperate need to get away from my seat. I quickly jumped out of my seat and heard a loud clanging and cracking sound. Looking at where I had been moments before, I saw that there was another brass pan that was bigger than before. It had completely smashed my damaged desk.

"What the hell was that for?! That could have seriously hurt someone!" I yelled at the little witch.

I had just saved the girl earlier. Why was I getting attacked by someone who I had saved? I just had expected her to walk away at worst.

"Why is there a human at this school desu?" my attacker yelled.

"Not this shit again. Is there a problem with me being human Yukari?"

"Of course there is desu! You know about us and are a danger to us desu! You could leak out that information to the rest of the humans desu!"

"First off, how can there be an information leak when I can't go into the human world until I graduate from this school? Second, what makes you think the world would believe me if I were to say that monsters existed? I can claim anything I want, but that doesn't mean people will believe what I say. Even if people did believe me, I don't want to risk having a war between the human and monster world."

"But the fact is that you are a human desu! You still pose a threat to us monsters desu! Why isn't anyone else alarmed by the fact that there is a human in here desu!"

The both of us looked around to see the response of my classmates. I knew that they were used to the idea that I was claiming that I was human, but at this point it seemed that they may start realizing that I really was human if everyone that came through that door seemed to know that fact. I could see that many students were looking at each other nervously. I couldn't tell if they were nervous because they had seen what had happened to my desk or if they were nervous because they actually realized that I was a human after having everyone yell this fact out on a daily basis.

Eventually one of the few remaining boys decided to step forward to speak.

"Isn't it fine that Aono-san is a human? I mean we can see that he is a nice guy. I mean, he got rid of Kuyou. He can't be all that bad."

"Right? I haven't actually seen Tsukune-san really do anything that bad. The angriest I've ever seen him was when he threatened to eat that PSC member."

"That was actually really funny to watch. I can't believe that those four guys actually fell for it."

"I also think that Tsukune-kun is probably a really nice guy. I mean there is a rumor that he goes out to help those in need. Didn't he stop Saizou from trying to rape someone?"

"Yeah and I think he did it twice. Wait a second. Didn't he also just save this girl from those three lizardmen. Why is she attacking Aono-kun anyways?"

It was at this point that most of the eyes that had been shifting uncomfortably were now giving Yukari a critical gaze.

_Bang Clang Dong Bang Dong Bang Clang Dong_

Before I knew it, almost have our class had a brass pan smash onto the top of their heads. I had managed to dodge the pan that was sent my way. I began to run out towards Yukari to get her out of the room before someone in our class decided to kill her. I didn't exactly like the girl since she seemed to just lash out at people, but it wasn't exactly in my interest to leave her to be slaughtered.

After a few minutes, I managed to corner Yukari on top of the roof. While I had been chasing her, she had left several crates where her brass pans had smashed into in failed attempts to hit me. Mikogami-san was definitely not going to enjoy seeing the amount of property damage.

I was just a bit surprised that the PSC hadn't gotten itself involved considering that Yukari wasn't hiding that she was a witch. I guess they figured that the students would take care of the problem themselves. I could easily see that Yukari wasn't exactly the most popular girl in school.

"Knock it off Yukari. You aren't exactly making any new friends by attacking me or anyone else in this school," I gasped out to her.

"It's not like anyone will even consider being my friend in the first place desu," she said while slumping against the rail along the roof.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm a witch desu. The other monsters don't like witches because we look and smell like human desu. Some monsters even consider us to be humans because we can't use magic without a magical medium desu."

"I don't see how that really matters. You don't exactly hide the fact that you are a witch and seem to cause a lot of problems for the other students. Are you sure that everyone at this school dislike you because you are a witch? It could be due to the fact that you tend to drop a brass pan on everyone's head."

"But I do that because everyone picks on me desu? They think that I don't matter just because I'm classified as a G-rank monster desu."

"Sorry, but you dropped a pan on my head when I tried to stop those three lizardmen from trying to eat you. I can't exactly sympathize with you or believe what you just said. Also, what the hell is with this ranking system anyways? I've only heard of it recently. I don't have a clue about what you are talking about."

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.

#2: Sorry for the late update, but life and writer's block got in the way. Finally got my spring break and saw a lot of my high school friends. As for the writer's block, I was trying to figure out how to best portray Yukari and move the plot along. Hope you enjoy how this Yukari turns out.

#3: As for question about whether or not I have an idea of how I want to progress the story, the answer is I do. The only thing is that I don't tend to stick to my plans because I just write when inspiration or a great idea hits me.

#4: There is also a top ten list forum that is updated weekly. I do suggest you go look at it to see what other writers to look out for. The only thing I ask is that none of you actually submit my name to the list. I've already made it onto the list twice. And as much as I like the free advertisement and the ego boost, I feel that it is a bit redundant. I can easily hear your opinions from reviews/favorite/follows, and I would like to see what other unique writers that readers enjoy.


	17. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

Due to the reviews, the second version of the previous chapter will be considered as the point where the story was left off.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Tsukune's Perspective

I woke up to a dull pain emanating from the top of my head. Why was I unconscious in the first place? The last thing I remembered was being on the rooftop arguing with Yukari. I began to shift my body around and noticed that I was lying in a bed.

"Oh you're awake now? How are you feeling?"

With some difficulty, I managed to prop myself up and locate the source of the voice. I saw Liz-sensei sitting at the desk near the bed. She was surprisingly less concerned over why I was unconscious in the first than I thought she would have been.

"What happened and how did I get here?" I asked as I tried to gather what had happened.

"Sendo Yukari dropped a brass pan on your head and knocked you out for an hour or so. Your friend, Shirayuki-kun, managed to drag you off the roof. I was really surprised at how she managed to get you through the window instead of the doorway," she said lackadaisically over the source of my injury and with a hint of amazement over how I was transported.

"You don't seem too surprised that I'm here in the first place."

"Well I was surprised when several students came walking in here with bumps on their heads. I was also surprised when I saw that the hallway had become a battle zone with several crates. You, on the other hand, always get hurt. It was obvious that you were going to come here with a large bump on your head as well," she said while jabbing a finger into my good shoulder.

"Sorry?" I said sheepishly in order to get Liz-sensei back in a good mood. She had a habit of hurting me when she was in a foul mood. The thought of what she had done to my ribs before made me shudder.

"You better be. Why did you even bother chasing that girl around? That's like asking to be hurt," she said with a sigh in her voice over how hopeless I was.

"Because if I didn't, I was certain that several of the other students may have tried to attack her. She did drop pans on half the class."

"Wait a second. You mean you weren't going to try to 'teach her a lesson'" she said as she quoted the last part.

"I was going to try to get her to stop and apologize. I mean this is pretty far for a prank to pull. Why exactly is she going around and dropping brass pans on people?" I responded with irritation starting to seep in my voice as I felt the dull pain on my head.

"How much do you actually know about her anyways?"

"Hugh?" I said confusedly.

"Just tell me what you know," Liz-sensei urged.

What did I know? I knew that she was a witch just from her actions and attire. She must be a genius given how you she must be. Yukari likes to pull pranks and some of the other monsters do not take kindly to her.

As I thought about it some more, I recalled that those lizardmen didn't like the fact that she was a witch. Even though I thought about it, I couldn't help but feel that the animosity was normal. I haven't really seen monsters get along with each other. Just thinking about Moka-san made it seem like monsters only really got along with their own race.

I told Liz-sensei everything I knew. The nurse just nodded her head with each thing I listed. It seemed as though she was judging me based on what I had just said. It wasn't until I got to the point about how Yukari being a witch that I remembered something Yukari had said on the roof.

"Liz-sensei, what exactly is the monster ranking system anyways? I remember Yukari saying she was a G-rank monster and how it was preventing her from making friends," I asked honestly.

My honest question had made Liz-sensei's jaw drop. I had forgotten that Liz-sensei didn't know that I was a human. It was strange to me since everyone in my class seems to know or accept the idea that I was a human and everyone I meet for the first time can somehow tell I really am a human.

"I was raised in an environment that discouraged rankings set by others and focused on developing an individual," I quickly added to avert suspicion.

I also made sure that what I had said was mostly true so that if Liz-sensei asked for more details I could just talk about how my Mom and Dad and raised me. Mostly my Dad in this case since his work forced him to judge people based on their abilities.

"I see. That makes a lot of sense when I see how you act. Personally I'm glad that you were raised away from all that," she said without any suspicion.

"But I think I should probably know about it now since Yukari seems to have some sort of problem with it."

"Where to begin… Let's start off with the basics. The ranking system goes from SSS to H. An H-rank is pretty much given to humans."

"Pretty much?"

"An H-rank is also given to monster species that have essentially lost any ability to be a monster. They can't transform or use magic. The only thing that distinguishes them from a human is the youki flowing in their veins. Examples of such species include the 'human' fortune tellers or spiritual mediums. In any case, they aren't really monsters and are pretty much human anyways," she said as she scratched the back of her head to think of an example.

"So what's a G-rank monster? Just from listening to what makes up an H-rank, I can't really see what monster would fit there."

"A G-rank is the lowest level a monster can go. The G-rank is reserved for golems or summoned constructs with no real form of intelligence or free will."

"Wait a second. Yukari said she was classified as a G-rank monster and I'm pretty sure that she is a genius," I interrupted with a confused look spread across my face.

"That's the sad part Aono-kun. Witches are border beings. To most monsters, a witch is the same as a human," Liz-sensei said with a sad sigh following her comment.

"But witches still have supernatural powers and I know that Yukari is probably a lot more powerful that several of the monsters at this school. She just waved her wand and nearly knocked out half of my class."

"Witches may be powerful, but their limitations are what keep them so low on the scale. They aren't really classified as a G-rank monster, they are actually considered to be between a G-rank and an H-rank. A magician is only a 'monster' when she or he has a magical medium to make use of his or her unnaturally high levels of magic. Without a magic medium, they cannot tap into their source of power and become as weak as a 'human'. It doesn't exactly help when the monster looks and smells exactly like a human in his or her natural state."

"But I claim that I'm human. I haven't really been assaulted for being human aside from a vampire and the PSC. My class seems to even be warming up to the idea of being around humans," I interjected.

"No one actually really believes that you are a human. You faced down two S-rank monsters in two days. There is no way that you are a human. Are you actually forgetting that you are a monster after trying to convince everyone else that you are a human?" Liz-sensei said as she flicked my forehead.

"In any case, I'm pretty sure you can guess as to why Sendo-san is lashing out," she said as she turned back to her desk to sort some papers.

The only thing I could really gather was that Yukari wasn't respected by her peers because she was a border being. Yukari was a genius and got the top score among the freshmen, but the only thing I heard about her from others was that she was a filthy witch. Was she just lashing out or trying to prove something?

She was still very young. It could just be simple immaturity. She could have just simply been saying that she didn't like everyone for hating her. I wouldn't have been surprised if she was just following the idea of treat others how you want to be treated. People probably just treated her like shit and hopefully she was the more violent of the two parties.

If she was trying to prove her worth, it would explain a lot of things. Yukari did drop pans on several students' heads. It could have been to show off the fact that she could take on anyone on school and wasn't afraid of a challenge. She had even dropped a pan on my head for interfering this morning. It also made sense if she was trying to prove her worth through violence if getting the highest marks on exams didn't net her anything.

I then remembered why she had challenged me. Yukari confronted me in class for being a human and tried to condemn me for that reason. When her plan had not only failed but sent the hate back to her, she had lashed out at the other students. She had then complained to me about being a G-rank monster, which I now knew meant that the others thought of her as human.

Elizabeth's Perspective

I hope that Sendo-san will at least get a friend now. It wasn't like Aono-kun wasn't at least going to try to before, but at least he has a reason not to hold a grudge against her. The only thing I really have to worry about is whether or not Sendo-san will actually consider being his friend. Who am I kidding? Aono-kun will probably find a way. He did convince his class that coexisting with the humans wasn't a bad idea.

"Liz-sensei, I know about the H and G-ranks. What about the others?"

"You already know what you need to know Aono-kun. Why do you want to hear about the rest? It isn't even that interesting. It would pretty much be another lecture for you," I responded with a bit of confusion.

Why was he so interested? It was one thing for him to not know since there were people like me who were raised away from the whole system, but it was another to wish to continue. Students who had grown up away from it tended to wish not to know more than they needed to know. Hell, I didn't even want to learn about it until I became the school's nurse. The idea of the ranking system just seemed so disgusting. There must have been some reason behind his interest.

"I'm just curios because it could be helpful to have an idea of who might be more inclined to attack me and how I could best deal with the situation," he said firmly.

His reason did make a lot of sense. He was pretty battered from all of the fights he had gotten himself into. Any information Aono-kun could get would probably be able to help him survive a bit longer.

"Well then. Let's start off with the next level then. An F-rank isn't that much different that a G-rank. In fact they are the same except for the fact that an F-rank monster will have free will and intelligence in comparison to a G-rank. F-rank monsters are very uncommon for this simple fact and those that do exist tend to be very weak in order to prevent a disaster."

"I see. So a zombie would be a G-rank, but a homunculus would be classified as an F-rank."

"Well most zombies are G-rank. Some special zombies are classified as F-rank. But you got the idea so we'll proceed to the next level. An E-rank monster tends to be more of prankster monster. They are your common everyday monster like a nurikabe. It's a D-rank monster that you have to really watch out for."

"Why a D-rank monster? That seems to be a bit too low on the list compared to something like an S-rank monster," Aono-kun interjected.

His response wasn't out of my expectations. S-rank monsters did assault him in the first week. Aono-kun's point was also valid considering that the power between an S-rank and a D-rank were astronomically different. I even had the same reaction when Shizuka-chan told me the same thing.

"You are right about that Aono-kun. D-ranks can't compare to S-rank monsters in terms of strength. The reason why you have to watch out for D-ranks is because they tend to be the most malicious of the entire monster population. They tend to be excessively violent and have rape on the mind because their youki affects a certain part of their brain. In return for this effect on their personality, they become a lot stronger physically. Komiya-kun was a perfect example of the rank for the most part."

"I-I see…"

It seems that the new information had startled him in some way. He was probably just thinking about what I had said. To him it probably sounded like I had just said that people like Komiya-kun couldn't help but be despicable. I just told him that D-rank monsters' violent tendencies were forced upon them simply because of the fact that their natural powers may possibly have damaged their forebrain.

"Is that why monsters don't want to mingle with humans? Are they also the reason why humans will probably have a hard time to swallow the idea of coexisting with monsters?" Aono-kun asked uncomfortably.

I thought about his question carefully before continuing.

"It's a contributing reason. D-rank monsters simply encourage the idea that humans are only livestock that are meant to be terrorized for fun. Most monsters have got the idea that humans are bad from their constant bullying and verbal abuse about the humans. Many D-rank monsters even commit crimes in the human world and get away with it. The real problem lies in the pride that most monsters have. Many find it maddening to have to hide when most monsters are stronger than humans in a one-to-one fight.

As for the humans having a hard time to coexist, I don't think the D-ranks are entirely at fault for that one. In fact I think it is more of the humans' fault for that."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked with a slightly suspicious head tilt.

"Well most stories of us tend to place us in a bad light. Sure many of the myths humans have hold some truth, but many have monsters harming humans in some way. D-ranks and several monsters from the other ranks contribute to this, but most of the rumors are sprung from the humans' innate fear of anything that isn't human.

For example, a snow woman is a fairly harmless monster in her personality. In human stories many humans are frozen to death or spirited away. Snow woman don't normally freeze people to death unless someone is trying to rape them or kill them. They do go to drastic measures in acquiring husbands every now and then, but that is because they have to in order to ensure their species survival due to their strict time limit on reproduction."

"That does make sense. A lot of the stories about monsters in the human world don't exactly match up with the real deal here."

Why does he act as though he knows a lot about monsters stories that the humans have come up with? Most monsters still live in communities separated from the human world. The only story a normal monster would know would be those concerning their own race. It's uncommon for monsters to even take interest in other species unless they wished to mate with someone from a different species.

"Talking about snow women, they also happen to be C-rank monsters. C-rank monsters tend to be really strong monsters that are able to manipulate certain elements. It is even arguable for many of the monsters to be at the border between B-rank and A-rank in just terms of sheer fighting ability. The only reason why such powerful creatures are placed at a C-rank is because of their natural ties to the elements. Because of their natural affinity to an element, they have a natural weakness to another. A snow woman, for example, has to stay in cool temperatures to survive. Heat, even at room temperature, can drastically weaken them. A slime monster, like me, has an affinity for water and has weakness to pollutants and anything that can cause me to evaporate."

"Hey is it really okay for you to tell others what your weak to?" the boy asked with an alarmed expression.

Was Aono-kun really a human? He doesn't know the basic ranking system, but listens to the human tales about monsters. The boy doesn't think or act like a normal monster simply based on his interests. Aono-kun is even concerned about me exposing my weakness to him. The caution seems to reflect the lack of confidence a monster has for his or her natural ability. Was this boy a monster just raised among the humans or was he really human?

But he can't be human. His recovery is way too fast. A normal human, let alone a normal monster, shouldn't be able to heal ribs so quickly even with the medicine I gave him. In fact it should have slowed it down if that were the case. I can also tell that he doesn't really need the arm sling anymore. His natural ability to take on those hits makes him something more than a human.

Aono-kun's very naiveté would dictate him to be weak monster or a human. The only problem is that his confidence and crazy regeneration would suggest him to be a high level monster or a gelatinous monster. The only problem with that theory is that such monsters generally hate humans to the extent that the very idea of coexistence was somewhat baffling. They also lived by the ranking system for the most part.

I needed to find out more to determine what Aono-kun really was.

"It's fine Aono-kun. Monsters don't go for each other's weaknesses and just play by their own powers. Now after the C-rank, there is the B-rank. They are monsters that have fairly high combat ability more suited for every situation and can generally affect another's mind to some extent. In fact there really isn't too much distinction between an A-rank and a B-rank with the only exception that A-rank actually forgo mind tricks because there natural fighting abilities place them that far."

The boy just nodded without commenting. It seemed like what I had said made complete sense to him.

"We finally reach the S-rank, which are simply the top monsters in terms of natural strength and abilities. There really isn't too much to say about them. They tend to inject youki directly into themselves like D-rank, but in a more refined manner. Because of this they have a lot of weaknesses in comparison to the other classes, but there they compensate those numbers by the sheer fact that they can easily overpower anything even with someone taking advantage of their weaknesses. The only advice that people would give would be to simply not piss one off."

"Eh… It's kind of late to tell me that now. Not that it would have mattered since they just didn't like the way I smelled," Aono-kun said with an exasperated grin on his face.

"So let's go to the next level…"

"It's okay if we skip the SS-rank. I've already heard rumors about it from the other students. Supposedly they are monsters that have exceeded the natural strength of an S-rank monster to the point that they could just wave several of them off with ease. It is a rank that is acquired by merit right?"

"Right, but can you tell me what a SSS-rank monster is?" I asked playfully.

"Uhm… monsters that can wave of several SS-rank monsters with ease?" he said hesitantly.

"That is partially correct. A SSS-rank monster has to be stronger than an average SS-rank monster for sure, but then the question would be at what level would be the standard. A SSS-rank monster has to also be the strongest monster of his or her species in addition. There can essentially be as many SSS-rank monsters as there are species, but they are all stronger than the average SS-rank monster."

Tsukune's Perspective

"It's kind of hard to see a monster being much stronger than someone like Kuyou. Are there really monsters of such high caliber around that can even make a SS-rank monster look like a joke?" I asked with a slight hint of worry in my voice.

Liz-sensei just laughed at me. Somehow the laugh made my stomach curl over the thought of her answer. Was there already someone who was a SSS-rank at this school that I was overlooking? I really hope that the situation doesn't become some manga like story where I have to go defeat him or her to become the top 'monster' in this school.

"Of course there are such monsters Aono-kun. The Chairman is an example of one of those monsters. There are two others in addition to him that makeup the Three Darklords. I even know an undine from where I came from that has achieved that level."

Mikogami-san was a SSS-rank monster? It made sense to me to have a strong monster run the school, but I didn't feel anything from him. He seemed to be really human in appearance to me. He didn't seem to be all that powerful. I just figured that he used some holy magic to control the school given his attire. The only I could see myself worrying about was the fact that he seemed to be a devil in disguise.

"Also, don't worry about having to face off with any SSS-rank monsters. It usually takes an S-rank monster at least fifty years to even achieve any power near enough to be placed at that level. You'll be fine so long as you don't piss of the kid of such a monster," Liz-sensei continued to alleviate my fears.

There was still one thing that I wanted to know about the ranking system.

"Liz-sensei, what about monsters that are born from mixing species? Where do they exactly fit in this scale?"

"Monster genetics are a bit tricky in that. There are really only two results for those instances. A monster born from this can either become one of the two parents' specie or they become rogue ayakashi," she said as her voice became progressively sadder in tone.

"How does that work?"

"There are certain species that have absolute dominance in reproduction. They essentially mate and their offspring will always come from their species. Snow women and succubae are examples of such monsters. When two monsters with absolute dominance in reproduction try to mate, the offspring will always die. This means that a succubus and an incubus are never able to mate together despite being very similar in nature to one another.

After the monsters with absolute dominance, there are monsters that have high priority in reproduction. They are very similar to those with absolute dominance, but will not be able to out influence those that have that dominance. These cases are caused by monsters with high levels of youki flowing through their bodies and usually only occur from S-rank monsters mating with those on the lower ranks.

After that, the genes of most monster just mix and mash like most normal genetics. The only problem is that the chromosome numbers don't match up usually, but the youki interferes with the process to force the offspring to survive. The result is that the child will have some traits of both parents, but their monster form tends to look horrific in nature.

Out of these three results, the ones that become one of the two species are put into that specific rank. The rogue ayakashi are placed at the F-rank because they are normally considered to have dirty blood."

That just sounded so wrong to me. Although I thought that, I couldn't help but see that the idea was also seen in the human world. I just grimaced over how unfair these systems seemed to me. I also cringed over the idea that it may not be possible to see a world of coexistence in my lifetime. How could two worlds come together when they couldn't even truly coexist within the bubble they have set themselves up with?

"It's late and I think you should probably go back to the dorms. You staying here is kind of making me work overtime," Liz-sensei said with a slight hint of irritation in her voice.

Was she actually irritated for me being here so long or was she trying to cheer me up?

"Ah sorry. I'll being going now. Thanks for the lesson Liz-sensei," I quickly said to not keep her waiting.

With that, she gently bid me farewell. What to do now? I might as well go to the cliff to see the view and think about what I just heard. I'll probably even see Mizore-chan there too. Even though I enjoyed the idea of having company, I couldn't help but remember what Liz-sensei had said about snow women.

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.

#2: The reason why this took a while to come out is that this is actually the second version I came up with. I had actually finished a version before this, but then I thought of how this version worked better.

#3: Also a lot of dialogue with no real description of faces or voices in this chapter, but let's face it. This is more of an explanation chapter anyways. Also some people may say that I may have put too much thought in the list (especially the brain part). In my defense, I have all the time in the world to write this and I'm a college student so some of the stuff is just what I learn.

#4: Nurikabe is essentially a monster that delays travelers by blocking the road. They are harmless and can easily get bypassed if you knock on the lower left part of the wall.

#5: Undine's are female water spirits. If you are curious about the ranking, they would fall in the C-rank that I have given.

#6: Rogue ayakashi are monsters with mixed blood.


	18. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own R+V and no copyright infringement is intended.

Due to the reviews, the second version of the previous chapter will be considered as the point where the story was left off.

"Speaking"

_Sounds_

Tsukune's Perspective

I found myself walking towards the cafeteria for dinner. I hadn't really realized it during my crash course lesson about monster rankings, but I was starving. It was understandable since I had spent most of the day running after Yukari and avoiding her attacks.

I did notice that while I was walking to the cafeteria, a lot of the other students were giving me weird stares. I couldn't tell if it was because people thought I would lash out at them or if it was because there was a rumor spreading about that was probably about how I 'lost' to Yukari. Either way, it wasn't too much of a problem to me.

Just as I was thinking that, I felt someone yank my collar and toss me across the hall. The fact that someone was picking a fight with me was bothersome, but I found that to be less concerning than the actual reactions of the other students. While I was flying, I found that the students were not sticking around to watch and cheer. I noticed that everyone was fleeing instead.

The idea that the monsters were trying to run away instead of encourage the fight spoke a lot about how dangerous my situation was. The only thing that really ran through my mind at this point was that the person attacking me was at the same level as Kuyou or had a temperament that was far worse. The sad thing was, I could only think of one person that I could have possibly pissed off.

"What in the hell happened today!?" an enraged vampire yelled at me.

It was pretty sad that I could so easily guess who my assailant was. It was also really sad that I knew that she was probably the one person that I didn't want to piss off. The only fortunate thing for me was that Moka was still in her sealed state making it so that her throw couldn't do permanent damage. The fall still hurt and I flew quite a distance, but I came out mostly unharmed. In fact my lack of excruciating pain was surprising.

"What do you mean?" I cautiously asked knowing full well that she was talking about the rumors about me 'losing'.

"Listen here! I could care less if you lost to someone who was A-rank or more and came back alive because they are at least worth something! Believe it or not, your reputation also affects mine given my shameful reaction on the first day! No! You probably already knew that given how you always seem to know the god damn answer! But you lost to a witch of all monsters! Why the hell did you lose to that witch?" Moka-san screamed at me with her eyes strangely flaring between green and red.

Her reaction was still milder than what I expected it to be. It was actually a lot more controlled than the first day I met her, which surprised me because I had initially thought that her pride was the one thing that I should never trample on. Although I had just done that by getting knocked out, I wasn't in excruciating pain. How exactly much did she hate humans for her to have reacted more violently to my initial taunts than now?

In any case, it wasn't a good idea to leave her without an answer given the fact that she now had her fangs bared at me.

"Look Yukari-san is just a kid. Albeit a genius academically, but a kid," I calmly stated hopefully calm Moka-san down. It didn't work.

"That makes it worse! Not only did you lose to a monster from such a low level, but you lost to one that is still too inexperienced to be considered a real threat!"

Thankfully she said exactly what I needed her to say in order for my argument to become more convincing to her. I could only hope that she wasn't too blinded by rage to not even care about what I would say.

"Then isn't it better if people just think that? I mean it won't reflect poorly on you one bit."

I ensured not to say too much so as not to appear to be begging for my life. Knowing Moka-san, appearing scared would just add more fuel to the fire. Plus, my Dad had taught me that hinting at something can change the pace of a conversation by making the customer more interested in the details. Though he also said it was something he rarely would use only because of the fact that it sometimes made him look unprofessional when he tried it on people whose time was actually worth a lot more than most people would ever hope to make. I just hoped that Moka-san didn't have the same sense of self-importance and impatience as the audience my Dad often presented to.

After thinking about it, I made a really stupid gamble. I had forgotten that despite Moka-san's probable lack of business experience, she acted exactly like royalty with the expectations of self-benefit. It wasn't like I was given too much of a choice under the circumstances. The only question was what would piss her off more now. I could only hope that wasting her time was the lesser of two evils now.

"Explain," Moka-san said in a calmer tone while giving me a bit more room to breathe.

I must have some guardian angel protecting me and had signed a contract with the devil to not be receiving the beating of a life time. Given the fact that I had made a deal with Mikogami-san, I would guess the latter of the two. The thought did bring up some questions I wanted to ask him, but I had to deal with the situation at hand first.

"Think about what you said. No one considers her a 'real threat'. Regardless of what happened, no one is going to take the 'fight' seriously. People will just think that I'm entertaining a kid and her tantrum. Given how Yukari-san's reputation in school is, most of the other student's will probably be glad that I have taken the task of being her 'babysitter' for the day."

"Interesting, but you are forgetting one tiny fact. Everyone saw you chase after her in class. How do you expect me to believe that they won't think that you tried to get serious and just lost?" she asked skeptically with her brow raised at me.

I could only gawk at her. I had indeed forgotten about the fact, and she did bring up a fair point. It wasn't the greatest of points to bring up and easy to fix, but pretty good given how little she could use for a contradiction to my statement. I was also kind of surprised that monsters would actually treat kids nicely enough to think I was getting serious on Yukari-san given how I've seen some of the other students treat Yukari-san. Maybe my humanity was just starting to rub off on her.

"First off, I was getting her out of there before any of the others had the idea of tearing her apart like those three this morning. Second, you don't seem to be completely aware of my reputation in class. Most of the classmates seem to think of me as some sort of saint."

My response just gave Moka-san a frown. It wasn't as if she was angry at this point. She just seemed really confused over my words at this point.

"Wait… When you say saint… Do you mean people think that you were trying to exorcise her? In that case, you were really trying to kill her? But that wouldn't make sense," she started to mumble confusedly.

I had forgotten that this girl didn't know human phrases. At least she was getting what my point was supposed to be.

"Ummm… Moka-san, that's another modern human phrase. It basically means that I wouldn't do anything to harm Yukari-san. People just look at me in a favorable light. Or at least favorable enough that they think I'm a good guy," I phrased so as not to seem condescending.

"Okay. So no one will think badly of either of us, but I think you still have two more issue to attend to now. How are you going to deal with the witch and the students who are going to go after her," the vampire calmly asked.

Before I had a chance to respond to her questions, I realized something was wrong. My entire body had suddenly gone numb. It was if I couldn't control it, but could feel the forces tugging at it.

"Moka-san you need to get out of her now!" I urgently pleaded.

Unfortunately she took offense to what I had said. It was understandable given the fact that I pretty much told her to get lost. If it weren't for the fact that I was in a very problematic situation, I would have phrased that statement a lot more kindly.

"What!? Don't you dare take that tone with me! Have you forgotten that I could crush you like a bug right this instant?! Or did that witch hit your head so hard that you have forgotten?! I can give you a reminder right now if you want!" Moka-san snarled at me.

Whoever was doing this, I hope you got your kicks and giggles for ruining all of my hard effort.

"That's not what I mean Moka-san. Someth…" I attempted to say before finding myself launched at Moka-san, who was taken by surprise at my sudden movement and 'audacity'.

In the next few seconds I regained control of my body, I found myself tumbling across the floor with Moka-san with both my arms wrapped around her to protect her from the fall. As we were rolling, I couldn't help but smell a fragrant aroma drift from her. I also noticed how light she really when I tried to turn in the air to take the brunt of the falls.

After we had finally landed, I felt something soft locked onto my mouth. I had my eyes close and dared not to open them in fear of what would happen. I was just hoping that by faking my lack of consciousness, Moka-san wouldn't jump to conclusions given how we ended up in this situation.

Moka's Perspective

Looking down I found myself on top of Tsukune with his arms opened wide. Not just one, but his hurt arm was also there. He had used it to prevent me from getting hurt. Though I was shocked at what happened, I was more shocked about the compromising position we were in. I could feel that our lips were connected, and the faint smell of his blood-filled veins was wafting up into my nose.

This was bad. If I stayed like this, I might not be able to control my appetite. Given the fact he had just gotten out of the nurse's office from the concussion he received, it probably would not be the best idea to cut off the blood that his brain needed so badly.

With all of my will power, I raised myself up and gave the boy a look. I could tell that he was just pretending to have just passed out. The question was why? He shielded me from the fall, so this situation was probably not his fault.

_HAHAHAHAHAhahahaahaha_

I couldn't help but look in the direction of the laughter. I could tell that the laughter was that of a young girl, and the sound grew fainter with every second. That was enough to explain the situation. Looking back at Tsukune, I couldn't help but feel angry at him for still trying to pretend to have been knocked out.

"Hey, get up. I know you're just pretending right now," I angrily said while giving him a resounding smack for good measure.

"Ow…" the boy replied while rubbing the new and growing red mark left on his cheek.

"I get that you were trying to warn me, so I'll forgive you for your previous comment. But why the hell were you pretending to be asleep?" I asked as nicely as I could, but couldn't hide the fact that my face was twitching in slight annoyance about Tsukune's unexplainable cowardice.

Tsukune just began to look nervously about. What was he so scared of? I could only hear him softly mumble, "It's because… I thought you were going to misunderstand something…"

"What exactly?"

"That I attacked you in order to kiss you."

It was at this point that I could see that his face had suddenly gotten a tiny bit red. I still didn't understand as to why though. Whatever it was, he was clearly misunderstanding something.

"I told you that I know that the witch was behind all of this, and why would I care if we kissed?" I asked to sate my curiosity.

Somehow, my response just made him blush more. Even if he didn't turn red, I could suddenly smell his blood much more clearly. It was so alluring.

"Wha-wha-what do you mean by that?" he managed to sputter out in his confusion.

"Exactly that. Is it any different to how I have to take a bite out of your neck to feed? It was just another experience of tasting food to me."

I had said that in an ambivalent tone because the 'kiss' really didn't matter to me. Why should it? Although I would still rank Tsukune as something important to me, he was still food for me. I didn't see any problem of having my food touch my lips. Yet thinking on all this, I still couldn't help but wonder why I was thinking so much about having our lips locked.

It was probably because I could still smell Tsukune's scent. His blood tasted and smelled too good for me to be thinking straight.

It took me a while, but I managed to break away from my thoughts to see a slightly downtrodden Tsukune still under me. What was his problem this time?

"As much as you are making it easy for me to drink your blood today, I'll have to refuse today. I think you might need it a lot today. You don't seem to be thinking straight right now," I sighed out as I slowly got up.

Mizore's Perspective

I wonder what I should do. Should I make a vampire-popsicle right here and now? No. Maybe I should take Tsukune-kun back home with me. There are too many girls here that are getting so friendly with him. Oh what to do?

Tsukune's Perspective

Moka-san's response just lowered my spirits for some reason. Despite how I knew that Moka-san would probably never see me in a romantic light due to our status and how I saw her as a friend, I couldn't help but feel hurt over how unaffected she seemed. If what had happened had just fazed her a bit, I wouldn't have been hurt at all.

Was I really just a meal with a sideshow to her?

After that, we ate at the cafeteria and talked for a bit. I told her I would deal with Yukari-san. After mentioning that, Moka-san said that she was going to make me do some extensive training with her after school and club to make it so that I could defend myself more adequately. After that, we parted on the way back because there was still some time before the sun would completely set.

It was there at the cliff I found Mizore-chan and spent the remaining daylight watching the horizon with here. Neither of spoke, but somehow the silence was somehow comforting today. Looking at Mizore-chan, I couldn't help but wonder what went inside her head.

What exactly did she think of me? Listening to the lecture about monster ranks and the brief introduction to monster reproduction, I knew that Mizore-chan needed to find a partner like Kurumu-chan. The only thing is that Mizore-chan needed to find a partner soon apparently.

I needed to stop thinking about these things. Maybe Moka-san was right. Maybe I wasn't thinking straight given how my mind seemed to be wandering to my relationship with Moka-san, Mizore-chan and Kurumu-chan. Today was just too rough. I could just think about it tomorrow.

Keito's Perspective

This is an interesting weakness. Maybe I should give that bitch a call. Actually, he might not survive long enough for her to appear if he plans on protecting that witch like I initially planned. Hopefully those lizards will do their jobs properly and not run away like last time.

Author's Note(s)

#1: Please favorite and follow if you liked this story. Any and all reviews help. Send questions and I will probably respond to some of them by the next chapter. I do read them and consider editing previous chapters for better flow or explanations.

#2: Not too sure what really differentiates rate T and M in terms of cussing. Just let me know if the rating needs to change now in regards to that so that this story doesn't get removed. It would suck to have to re-upload just because of the story being flagged for language.

#3: To the comments regarding the shifts in perspective during mid-scene, that is intentional. The reason I do this is to give a better picture of the situation and develop the characters personalities. I find this more effective than just one perspective in the fact that I believe I give enough detail in the initial character that his or her thoughts during the later part of the scene can be imagined by the reader. The other perspectives are meant to develop characters, push the plot forward and show how the others view the situation.


End file.
